Unwritten Well, Almost
by boozy von chugaton
Summary: Everything changes as Rachel, Puck and Quinn must face their past when Shelby Corcoran is their judge at Nationals. And she's not alone. Puckelberry,glimpses of Pezberry friendship. M for light smut but it'll pick up more as the story goes on.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I thought of this one night while I was venting on the IMDB board. So let me know what you think:) It's my first fanfic so be gentle lol. **

Chapter 1

Noah Puckerman gradually made his way down the aisle of the airplane to sit in row 42A. He hated to fly, especially if he didn't know who going to sit by him the entire flight. He just hoped he wasn't sitting by someone annoying who would talk his ears off. Looking at the seat row and number, he glanced down to spot none other than Rachel Berry sitting in the window seat of row 42. With a heavy sigh, he reached overhead to put his things away and took his seat. He looked over and saw the petite brunette hard at work writing something, another song if he had to guess, and listening to her ipod. "Hey Berry." he said. Getting no response, he tapped her leg with his knuckles.

Rachel Berry looked up to see her former flame/makeout partner one seat away from her. Confused, she pulled down one of her headphones. "Noah. What are you doing in my row? Don't you have some cliché of a hot girl to hit on?" she didn't mean to sound so snippy, but she knew that sitting in a close proximity to Noah would break her concentration. There was no way she would ever tell him that though. The man already had an ego so large, she was surprised the plane could hold both him and it.

"Excuse me, princess but the Puckerman is now taking ownership of this row" he gave her a suggestive wink and added, "and everything in it."

Rachel rolled her eyes and just as she was about to burst his bubble, she saw the person who was going to sit between them. A woman bigger than Lauren Zizes with acne all over her face and a Butterfingers in her mouth was making her way down the aisle and stopped dead at Puck. Rachel cleared her throat and replied, "Really? Then you're going to have your hands full." Puck's eyebrows knit together in a confused expression, causing Rachel to point with her eyes.

Puck's head slowly turned and his eyes roamed up the giant figure in front of him. The lady stared at him and winked, showing blackened teeth from the candy bar. He nearly threw up right there. For a second, he forgot that she couldn't get in without him getting up. Clearing his throat, he stood up and inched his way past her to give her space. He heard a snicker and looked behind toward the front of the plane where he saw Santana and Quinn barely holding back laughter at who he had to sit by. And they weren't just laughing at the random lady.

_What did I do wrong in a past life?_ He wondered. When he turned his eyes back to the row, he found Rachel's eyes boring into him and a tearful woman. Shit! He couldn't believe he said that out loud. _This is going to be the worst plane ride ever_, he thought. Suddenly, his phone buzzed with a text message. He expected to see Satan or Quinn's number, but instead found a message from Rachel.

RB: Nice going. As if this plane ride wasn't going to be long already.

Leave it to her to text as though she were writing a paper. He quickly typed a response.

NP: Hey it's not my fault my awesome mouth does things w/o me knowing ;)

RB: I know firsthand that your mouth is not that awesome. But don't worry; she gets off at the airport during our layover.

He would never admit it because it's totally not badass, but that kinda hurt his feelings.

NP: Spicy today are we? Wait. We have a leftover?

Rachel gave an exasperated sigh and shook her head.

RB: A layover. It means we stay in the plane while the rest of the passengers get off.

Puck grunted in frustration. How long did it take to get to New York anyway? Just as he was about to respond, a blonde haired, green eyed stewardess stopped by him and informed him that his phone now needed to be shut off. He noticed her tanned, toned legs and how they reminded of a certain brunette sitting just two seats away. Shaking the thought away, he let his eyes roam her body, not caring at all if it offended her. After all, what girl wouldn't want a piece of the Puckzilla? The leggy stewardess blushed at the lustful gaze and continued her journey to the back of the plane. Puck decided that maybe this trip wouldn't be so bad after all.

About an hour into the flight the flight attendants handed out peanuts and drinks. The leggy stewardess took Rachel, the lady next to her, and Puck's orders. She came back 15 minutes later with their drinks and snacks. While grabbing the drink and napkin, he saw something written on it. After the stewardess left, he read what she wrote:

_Meet me in 10 at the back restroom_

Fuck yeah! Now this was what he called customer service. Those 10 minutes nearly killed him, but when he saw his opening, he practically flew to the back restroom.

He was grabbed by the stewardess and pulled into the restroom. It was so small he wasn' sure if they both could fit. As she maneuvered them around the tight compartment, he was letting his hands roam over her body. She managed to sit up on the counter and wrap her legs around his ass, bringing him in closer and continued to assault his mouth. She wasn't a very good kisser, in fact she was horrible. Dismissing that thought, he brought his hand up her inner thigh and realized that she wasn't wearing any underwear. He inserted 2 fingers into her folds and started to move them in and out. Her moans had him hard until it dawned on him how loose she was. His hard on started to die around the time that thought crossed his mind and just as he was about to pull his fingers out and ditch her, the door swung open.

Clearly, not making sure the lock was secure enough was a big mistake but add the embarrassment of Rachel Berry seeing him with his fingers in a woman's crotch he had barely spoken to an hour ago made sure that this moment would traumatize him the rest of his life and definitely hers. She couldn't even think about sex without scrunching her nose in revulsion.

There was only one moment in Rachel's life that had left her completely speechless and that was when Santana announced in front of the whole Glee club that she and Finn hooked up. Now, standing in the doorway of the plane's bathroom, she was left completely speechless again. If she ever thought that Noah changed, the sickening sight in front of her proved her wrong. Here was a guy that was fingering a woman he hadn't even bothered to learn her name. She felt a sudden wave of nausea and looked for a throw up bag. Just when she thought she couldn't hold back any longer, she spotted a bag in one of the vacant seats, grabbed it and proceeded to throw up violently. She felt Puck's hands on her shoulders and shuddered with disgust. The image replayed in her mind, causing another wave of nausea.

Nearly 30 minutes later, Rachel had finally stopped puking. Puck tried to comfort her but it only seemed to upset her even more so he backed off. An older stewardess had brought her some water and a pillow and suggested she take the whole row to lie down. Rachel did as she was told, leaving Puck alone with the stranger crying girl next to him. He had never been embarrassed before, much less ashamed. He wasn't even embarrassed that he slept with Quinn- regretful yes, embarrassed no.

When the plane landed in their layover city, Indianapolis, and the rest of the passengers left, Puck noticed that only the Glee club was left in the cabin. The male steward in the front told them that they could choose their seats since the next flight was going to be a light load. Puck shot out of his seat to check on Rachel, who was still sleeping. He stood in the aisle and watched the setting sun hit her face. The soft light accented her stunning features and produced a halo around her head. The image reminded him of the time she and the Glee girls sang their Halo/Walking on Sunshine mashup. He chuckled, bringing the attention of the slutty flight attendant he had almost had sex with earlier. She walked to him and started to guide him toward the bathroom again. He started to go but then he glanced at Rachel's sleeping form and pulled away. The blonde had a confused expression on her face which turned sour when she saw who he was looking at.

"What's your problem?" she asked bitterly.

"You're too damn loose." He replied in a tone that implied she was stupid for not knowing. Grinning, he slowly made his way up to the front of the plane where everyone was deciding room details and picking roommates. He almost tripped when he heard Mr. Schue asking Brittany something that obviously upset the group.

" I overheard him talking to Coach Sylvester the night before we left" Brittany said innocently.

"What's up?" Puck asked. He was met with glares from his fellow gleemates.

"Jesse St. James is helping Vocal Adrenaline this year at Nationals" Finn answered with a bitter tone.

Puck flexed his jaw and said, "That's bullshit and we all know it. He's after Rachel. Again."

Mr. Schue piped in, "We don't know that for sure Puck. He could just be there for his former team."

"Puck's right Mr. Schue" Finn declared. "Coach Sylvester arranged it. Brittany even heard her talking to him and the new coach."

Will knew both boys were right. Sue would do anything to destroy Glee, even at the expense of a student's heartbreak.

"There's no way I'm letting that St. Ass anywhere near Rach" Puck said defensively. His remark earned him strange looks from his classmates but he shrugged them off. "Cuz, you know, if he messes with her, we're done for. Who's her roommate?"

"We were trying to figure that until Brittany mentioned Jesse." Mercedes said

"Well, it's gonna be uneven. Santana and Brit of course, Mercedes and Tina, Lauren and Quinn. That leaves Rachel by herself." Finn added.

Mr. Schue seemed to think on that predicament for a while. Suddenly, he seemed to have an idea: one that wouldn't put temptation in the room but would allow Rachel to be looked after. "Kurt," he called out.

Kurt leaned to the side and smiled,"Here Mr. Schue."

"How do you feel about sharing a room with Rachel?" Mr. Schue asked.

A surprised look came across everyone's face, especially Kurt. Not that he had a problem with it, because the rooms would've been uneven anyway.

Will launched into his reasoning. "See, Mike and Puck would share and Finn and Sam have theirs. Unless being in a room with a girl makes you uncomfortable."

"Are you kidding?" Kurt said disbelievingly," We can have girl time! Duet competition, talk about boys, skin care. It'll be great!"

"Don't forget to stay with Rachel. If you see Jesse anywhere on your floor, you need to let me know right away" Mr. Schue clarified.

"Will do. I'll keep her occupied with Wicked reenactments" Kurt clapped even though his hands were in mittens. He was scary happy at that moment. Puck couldn't help but snort when he thought of how alike Rachel and Kurt were. No wonder it took them so long to become friends.

"Hey, where is Man-Hands anyway? Shouldn't we be telling her to shut up or something?" Santana observed.

"She's asleep" Puck said, "She...wasn't feeling well during the flight and got sick."

"Is she ok?" Finn asked. Puck noted the annoyed look on Quinn's face as he asked.

"Yeah, she's fine. Just needs some sleep."

Finn nodded and turned his attention to Mr. Schue, "So everything's ok? I mean, does Rachel know about Jesse?"

Kurt and Mercedes both shook their heads, "No way. She would've told one of us" Mercedes said. "I say we just keep her away from him as much as we can until after the competition."

The group agreed that was the best option. After their discussion, the flight attendants started to let other passengers in so Puck walked back to his seat. He kept replaying the news that Jesse was coming. There were no words to describe how much he hated that kid. He wasn't the only one; Finn hated him also even if he was back with Quinn. If Jesse got into Rachel's head, there was no telling how much damage would be done to New Directions. Rachel was their star, their go- to singer for competitions. It wasn't just her voice that they needed-it was her passion. She could be singing about warts and make it sound as though she were dying for love. Santana might be able to take over, but the bottom line is they needed a singer who could make the judges (and the audience) weep. He had to make sure that Rachel was distracted, though it would be harder now that he thoroughly disgusted her.

Puck found a row to himself and buckled in. As he was ignoring the monotone voice of the new stewardess saying the same shit about safe landing in water, he couldn't help the sinking feeling in his stomach that Jesse was just the beginning of their problems.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm so happy for all the alerts and favorites I got! I wanna give a shout-out to Paceismyhero and Jem1596 for their reviews. I literally squealed and then jumped up and down when I read them lol (along with the alerts and favorites). Each one makes me happier than the last one:)**

**Glee disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own anything of Glee except their cd's. If I did, Puckelberry would dominate the show.**

Chapter 2

Rachel opened her eyes just as the plane was landing in New York. She couldn't believe that she had slept so long and so deeply. Sitting up, she noticed the plane was a lot lighter this time than previously and silently thanked God for that. The image of Puck in the bathroom surfaced and she nearly groaned. Would that stupid image ever leave? _Probably not._ She thought. She wasn't sure, but it felt like a little green monster had invaded her head (or heart) while she slept.

Rachel strained to see where everyone was and gasped silently when she saw that it was only her and Noah in the back. He was seated across from her but two rows up. She could clearly see his Mohawk, but as she peered over a little more, she found a pair of hazel eyes staring back at her, Hiding the rest of his face like a little boy, Rachel giggled at the pathetic sight of Noah looking scared. That's when the thought crossed her mind, _why does he care what I think? He doesn't even like me. He probably has one night stands all the time._ Rachel made an 'hm' sound and noticed that during her sneek a peek time, the plane had been cleared for passengers to get off.

She realized that her stuff was over where Puck was. She swallowed her embarrassment…and envy to walk to her former seat. She tried to open the bin, but was too short. Grunting, she started to climb on the armrests when she felt a hand on her wrist.

Puck had noticed her starting to wake up and decided that staying low would be a good option. She might throw up if she saw his whole face like she'd done three hours ago. Peering over the seat, he watched her looking at him and realized that even though his eyes were barely over the seat, his head was above it. _Idiot! You've been hangin' around Brittany for too long_ he thought. He saw her swallow hard, like she'd been holding a lemon in her throat (or another wave of puke) and demurely walk in front of him, only to try and open the bin. Problem was, she was about 10 inches too short. Suppressing a grin, he grabbed her wrist and told her he'd get it.

Scooting to the side, Rachel let him help her with her stuff. It was the least he could after scarring her for life right? "Thank you Puck" she said curtly.

Crap, she called him Puck. Never a good sign. "Hey Berry," he rushed out, "sorry. You know, about earlier." He was going to explain but she held up one of her hands to cut him off.

"Puck, please don't explain" she said sweetly- a little too sweetly for his peace of mind. "I know your incessant need to sleep with anything that has breasts and a pulse. I'm just sorry to think that here your teammates and friends are changing and trying to mature and yet you refuse to even leave Neverland for a visit to reality. Really, I thought you were finally willing to let go of the Peter Pan fantasy. Obviously, I was wrong." She strutted down the aisle with Puck following, and just as she got down to the middle, she abruptly turned and warned him, "I don't ever want to talk about this again." He nodded vigorously. "I'm serious Puck. Never again." With that closing remark, they walked quickly to join their group.

Rachel joined Kurt and Mercedes at the baggage claim where the boys were waiting by the belt to grab all the bags. Rachel kinda felt sorry for them because there were so many. She looked to her right and saw Mercedes smiling at her in a worried way, and then she shifted her head to the left and saw Kurt doing the exact same thing. "Did you guys take some medicine or something?" she asked Kurt. He shook his head while still smiling. "Then why are you both smiling like you've taken a bottle full of Prozac?"

"It's a free country Rachel. Besides, it hasn't hit you yet that you're in the city of your dreams? Because I'm pretty sure that if it did, you'd be out searching for Idina Menzel's house." Mercedes said. "I know I'm looking forward to running into her husband. That man is a fine piece of chocolate."

Kurt nodded his agreement and replied gloomly, "All the good ones are straight." Rachel and Mercedes turned their heads slowly to him with amused expressions. "It's true! Anytime I like a guy, he's straight: Finn, Puck, Taye, Brad. The list goes on."

"Yeah but now you've got Blaine." Mercedes retorted.

"I know! Isn't it great?" Kurt practically glowed every time someone mentioned the name. Or something even remotely sounding like it.

"Hold up" Rachel objected quickly before they switched off the topic. "Puck? You liked Noah?"

Kurt blushed and nodded shyly. "I couldn't help it. Everyone loves a bad boy. Especially good girls. Am I right Rachel?"

Rachel shot a glare at Kurt before asking, "What are you talking about? I love Finn. Noah and I have nothing going on. He's…obnoxious, loud, crass and disgusting."

Mercedes and Kurt exchanged looks quickly before they could get caught, but Rachel clearly saw it. "What?" she asked.

"Girl, even Finn admits that you and Puck have some serious chemistry. And don't even try to deny it. Everyone sees it, and if they didn't before they certainly got it when you two did your duet." Mercedes informed her. She and Kurt had seen Puck trying to comfort Rachel earlier on the plane but for some reason, Rachel didn't want it. They both thought that odd because every time Rachel was in some sort of personal dilemma, it was Puck who was there to tell her she was hot with her nose or tell the Glee club that he did, in fact like her when no one else did. Not to mention the fact that every time Rachel would be in front of him, he couldn't stop staring at her. Oh yes, there was something between those two-and Kurt and Mercedes decided that their Rachel had been mourning Finn long enough.

"Mercedes, please" Rachel objected. "I love Noah. And he loves me. He'll realize it when Quinn dumps him for the next quarterback." She heard a snicker beside her and saw Kurt hiding his smile. "What?"

"Who do you love?" he asked with an amused expression.

"Finn of course." She was wondering where this was going.

Kurt bit his bottom lip and informed her, "You just said you loved Noah."

"I did not. You misunderstood" Rachel declared.

"If you say so" Mercedes said with a snort. And with that, they dropped the subject since Puck was walking toward Rachel with her bags in tow.

Rachel grabbed her suitcases in a hasty manner and stormed out to get on the bus.

Puck got stuck with Kurt and Mercedes in the back row of the greyhound bus. Normally, he would be irritated but his mind was on what to say to Rachel. They were gonna be around each other a lot for the next couple of days and he didn't want it to be awkward.

"Why don't you tell her how you feel?"

Puck was pulled out of his thoughts by Kurt's voice. "What? What the hell are you talking about Hummel?"

"Puck, you're staring at her."

"I'd say he's leering" Mercedes chimed in.

Puck turned his head toward them. He did have a clear view of Rachel since he was on the end of the row by the bathroom, leaving him open to view down the aisle where he could see Rachel half sitting in her seat behind Mr. Schue no doubt chattering his ear off about sightseeing in New York. "You better shut your mouth Hummel. You don't know what you're talking about" he fired back.

"Oh Puck, the masculinity is so overwhelming" Kurt mocked. He knew Puck wouldn't do anything but defend him. Of course, he did spend some time in juvie… "Why don't you go sit by her?"

"I'm not staring at Rachel!" he half shouted.

Kurt gave him a confused look. "Who said anything about Rachel? Mercedes, did you say anything about Rachel?"

"Hell to the no. Puck don't like Rachel like that Kurt. That'd be the day he sings a duet with her at Nationals" Mercedes replied. Of course, both knew that Mr. Schue had planned on selecting Puck for just that. Finn would, but he was getting sick and his voice not be recovered in time.

Puck eyed them suspiciously and turned back to staring at Rachel. He couldn't help it, his eyes were just drawn to her. He stared harder the more she talked and he half hoped that she would turn around so he could see her face.

"_That's_ leering" Mercedes pointed out. Kurt nodded his head slowly. They certainly had their work cut out for them. "Hey, where's Miss Pillsbury?"

"Oh, Mr. Schue said that she had an appointment she couldn't miss but she'll be here tomorrow." Kurt informed her. With that, the bus slowly quieted down as the passengers began to feel sleepy.

Just as Puck was about to fall asleep, he felt a jolt. The bus had come to a stop in front of the Chelsea Hotel. It looked really fancy and made him feel like a hobo being dressed in sweat pants and a t-shirt.

"Holy shit!" Santana shouted. "Mr. Schue, the Chelsea Hotel? Isn't that super expensive?"

Will nodded with a smile, "Yes it is. Glee got a very generous anonymous donation a few weeks before we scheduled which hotel. Everything's paid for guys. Welcome to Nationals!"

The bus had come alive at the mention that everything was paid for. They couldn't believe it!

"I wonder who it was!" Kurt gasped.

"Someone who really loves Glee club" Puck said with amazement.

Everyone made their way off the bus in a haze mixed with awe, shock and sleepiness. The mood intensified when they entered the lobby. None of them had ever seen anything so beautiful. It had a classic yet modern feel to it.

Mr. Schue went to check in while the Glee clubbers just stood around in their haze. Puck guessed that by the looks people were giving them, they looked high…and homeless. Everyone but Rachel, that is. Her soft pink top matched the pink and black plaid skirt, which looked spanking new. _Hmmm, spanking_ Puck mused. He shook his head to get out of his haze, _Snap out of it! You're a badass! You don't chase girls like Berry. You go for the Santana type._ Puck shrugged his jacket over his shoulder and glanced over to where Satan was standing with Brittany; she looked pretty content leaning on Brit's shoulder. Knowing Satan like he did, that look wasn't just because she was tired. He mentally counted everyone and realized that someone was missing.

"Hey, where's Wheels at? Did someone roll him down the ramp or something?" he asked. Despite his rough way of saying it, he was kinda worried that they left him behind. He couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed it before.

"Really Noah? You just now noticed he isn't here?" Rachel asked. Damn, how does she always use the words he thinks?

"Well, yeah. Where is he?"

"He's coming tomorrow with Ms. Pillsbury. His dad's in the hospital remember?" she informed him.

"Shouldn't he be with his dad then? I mean it's not serious is it?"

If looks could kill, Puck would've been on his way. Berry was giving him all sorts of glares. "No it wasn't. It was just a scare so they're discharging him tomorrow" she said as she rested her head on Kurt's shoulder.

Mr. Schue walked over with a handful of cards. He made everyone knew their roommates before handing out the keycards. "Right, so Brittany and Santana here's yours. Don't leave just yet, I have something to say while we're all here" he announced.

Santana rolled her eyes and Brittany whispered, "I hope he's not pregnant."

Will continued to call out names, "Finn and Sam, here's yours."

"Actually Mr. Schue, I'm gonna bunk with Mike. If that's ok I mean" Finn said.

"Yeah that's fine with me. Puck? Sam? You good with sharing a room?"

Puck smirked at Sam and grabbed the card, "I think we can handle we it."

"Great. Now, for the rest of the girls: Mercedes, Tina. Quinn, Lauren."

Rachel timidly put her hand up, "Um, Mr. Schue? I don't have a roommate."

"Yeah, about that Rachel. Do you mind if you share with Kurt? Just for tonight until Emma and Artie gets here."

"S-sure" she stammered. She wasn't opposed to the idea, it's not like anything would happen but the suggestion surprised her. Usually Mr. Schue was a stickler for properness. I mean, he wouldn't even let Tina and Mike make out on the bus. Either way, she wasn't going to complain.

"Great! Now, I know we had a long day today so tomorrow everyone gets to sleep in until 10 am. We need to be together by 10:30 sharp."

Everyone nodded absentmindedly in acknowledgment and headed for their rooms. Due to the amount of Glee clubs this week for Nationals, the rooms were all on different levels.

Puck and Sam had made to their bedroom on the 4th floor. The elevator ride seemed to take forever, but they finally made it. It was amazing how tired of everyone was when they had just been sitting all day. Sam had some trouble with the key card causing a sigh of impatience from both guys. Suddenly, there was a familiar voice coming from across the hall. _No fucking way_ Puck thought. He looked at Sam and could tell he was thinking the same thing.

"What the hell man? Don't tell me she doesn't sleep" Sam asked with a cry.

Puck grinned lazily and replied, "You're lucky. This time last year she would've been skipping the halls singin' some showtune crap. Let's just get this fuckin' door open and then I'll take care of her." Sam nodded and 3 more tries with the card seemed to do the trick.

Puck was so tired, he didn't even care about the room. He threw his bag on the floor and headed across the hall to Rachel's room. Under any other circumstances, he would've loved to hear her sing, but right now, all he wanted was some damn sleep. His hand was raised when he noticed something odd about her voice. He had no doubt it was her, but maybe she was singing in her lower register? "She's probably just tired Puckerman" he muttered to himself.

He banged on the door hard. "Berry, come on! Enough singing. Some of us actually need sleep!" he half shouted.

The door swung open and the brunette was standing in front of him.

"Noah?"

"Miss Corcoran."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Holy crap thanks so much for the great reviews! I'm glad y'all like the story:) On another note, I'm not going to rush the story or the relationships (I hate that) because I'm really trying to keep everyone in character as much as possible. That doesn't mean there won't be lots lust, romance and smuttiness though. Enjoy and review! I own nothing of Glee.**

Chapter 3

Puck walked across the hall back to his room in a daze after Shelby told him she was sorry. He had barely even breathed or blinked until she shut the door. For the second time that day, he was left completely speechless. He came back into the room and sat on his bed while Sam unpacked one of his bags.

"So is she gonna stop?" Receiving no response, Sam turned to look at his roommate. "Hey man, you okay?" He asked while watching Puck sitting on the edge of his bed with a vacant expression. To be honest, it kinda started to freak him out. He snapped his fingers in front of Puck's face, "Dude, you look like you've seen a ghost" he chuckled.

Puck drew out of his daze and replied, "I think I just did." Sam looked at him with an expression that begged him to explain. Nearly an hour later, Puck finally finished telling him about the intertwining decisions that had led to a triangle between Quinn, himself, and Rachel.

"Whoa" Sam muttered quietly. He knew Quinn had a baby with Puck and that they gave her up, but she hadn't mentioned to whom. He suddenly had a new respect for Rachel. "Did she ask about Rachel?"

Puck shook his head, "No. I think she was just as stunned as I was. She just said that she was sorry and shut the door in my face."

"So, Rachel doesn't know that she's here then?"

Puck hadn't given any thought to what this would do to Rachel. Seeing her mom after what happened would crush her spirit. "I don't think so. If she did, she'd be depressed even more than the time she got laryngitis and there's no fuckin way we'd win if that happened."

"Shit! Now we gotta keep her away from her mom and this Jesse kid?" Sam huffed. He started to pace the floor between the beds. "Jesus! Any more random people that we should look out for?"

"Dude, calm down! You're starting to freak me out!" Puck hollered.

Sam breathed a deep sigh and slowly let it out. He needed to keep calm. No reason to panic, especially since Rachel didn't know. "Well now that we know who's across from us, I guess we should keep the Quinn and Rachel visits down" Sam joked. Instead of a laugh, he got an annoyed look from Puck.

"Let's just go to bed, man. I'm fuckin tired." Puck got off the bed and started to change when he heard Sam grunt in frustration. "What's up?"

"Shit! I think Kurt and I's bags got mixed up."

"What's the big deal? Just sleep in your underwear. Problem fixed."

"My bag has my toothbrush and shit in it. I gotta go get it otherwise I can't sleep" Sam explained.

Puck laughed and shook his head, "You sure you're not gay dude?" he teased causing a glare from Sam. He started to walk out the door when Puck realized that Sam might not know where Kurt's room is. "Hey, man! You know where Hummel's room is?"

"No but I think he mentioned something about the lobby so I'll start there. I'll be back in a minute." He hollered as grabbed the keycard and left the room.

Puck tried to watch TV until Sam returned but couldn't find anything interesting. He decided to take a shower instead, hoping it would relax him. Just as he was about to step into the shower, he heard a light knock. _Fuck! Don't people sleep anymore?_ "Coming!" he answered with a groan.

Opening the door, he saw a pair of big, brown doe eyes looking at him.

"Hello, Noah" Rachel said tiredly. "Kurt asked me to bring this up for him because apparently there was some mix-up with the bags." Just as she finished her sentence, she heard the door behind her start to open.

Puck saw Shelby's door opening and practically threw Rachel into his room, and tried to close his door quickly but it was pressurized so he ended up slamming it harder than he meant.

"Noah! That hurt!" Rachel hissed, looking at the red mark on her wrist that would surely bruise the next day. He had his back to her with his eye looking out the peephole. She was about to give him a scolding when she saw his panicked face when he turned around. "Noah?" she breathed. "Are you okay?" She started to step toward him when she saw he only had a towel on. After an appreciative glance and a lustful thought about what lay underneath, she brought her eyes back up to his. She felt a shiver when she saw how he was looking at her.

Puck knew he probably grabbed her too hard, and he was going to make up for it later, but at that moment, he needed to get Rachel out of the hallway. If she and Shelby had a run in now, there would be tears, probably some yelling and eventually a storm out from one or both women and then he would never get any sleep. He saw Shelby stick her head out and look up and down the hallway. Her eyes landed on his door and he swore that she could see him watching her. He turned around swiftly and saw her worried face being replaced with a quick, lustful one. He suddenly remembered that he only had a towel on. His panic was replaced when he saw what she was wearing.

Starting at her wet hair and traveling down to the short robe she was wearing, his thoughts became darker when he realized that she must be topless, maybe even naked underneath it. The v-neck of the robe came about half way to where her chest was and the bottom of the robe was shorter than most of her skirts. "Did you just take a shower?"

Rachel looked puzzled for a moment and then realized what she was wearing, causing her to blush. Nodding her head, she replied, "Yes. I had just gotten out when Kurt asked me to come up and see if Sam had his bag since he had Sam's."

"Why didn't Hummel just come?" Puck asked silkily as he moved toward her.

Rachel was momentarily distracted by Puck's seductive voice. She hadn't heard it in quite a while and forgot how affective it was. "H- he- um," she breathed as she started to walk backwards, "is in Mr. Schue's room. They're going over the song list with Finn trying to figure out who should sing with me."

Puck stopped for a moment, remembering Mercedes' words on the bus earlier. "Frankenteen's not singing? But you two always sing."

"Don't call him that and yes." Rachel responded with an irritated huff. "He got sick just before we left and his voice is still recovering. Clearly, he can't sing if his voice is weak. If that were the case, Quinn would be singing the duet instead of me." She was still bitter about not getting her solo at Sectionals that year, and after hearing Quinn sing, she thought she had a right to be mad- even if they did win.

Puck was satisfied with that answer so he resumed his pace. He grabbed Rachel's unwounded wrist and brought her to him. He could see the effect he had on her: her chest was rising and lowering faster with each step he took and now he can practically see her heartbeat. He drops her wrist and wraps his arm around her waist, drawing her even closer to where he could smell her shampoo and vanilla body wash. With his other hand he picked up a small amount of her hair and wrapped it around his finger. "What kind of shampoo is that Rach?" he asked as he toyed with the hair.

"Lavender and honey" She breathed out. She was at his chest but was looking up at him while he played with her hair. If she moved her eyes downward, she knew that he would take that as a cue to continue and as much as she wouldn't mind that, she also knows that he doesn't have this room to himself. She suddenly became conscious of Sam's absence. "Noah? Where's Sam?"

"Probably still knocking on your door" he replied carelessly. Rachel looked at him with pure confusion. He brought his eyes to hers and explained, "He went to switch bags with Hummel. You probably didn't see him because he takes stairs instead of the elevator."

"He took the elevator earlier" she noted.

"Well that was because we were bringing all your girly shit up."

"Oh. Well, I better go find him. He's probably wondering if everything's ok." Rachel said hurriedly. She did feel bad that Sam was probably banging on the door and yelling if anyone was alive. Poor guy. He really did fit the cliché of a typical blonde. She threw the bag on the bed and sauntered around Noah.

Puck was not about to let a wet and possibly naked hot girl out of his room, even if it was Rachel Berry. In fact, being that it was Rachel, made it all the more hot. "Hey." he said softly as he grabbed her wrist. She winced in pain at the contact and he saw that he grabbed the damaged wrist. He walked right up to her and brought the injured limb to his lips and kissed it gently. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to hurt you. You gonna be all right?" he asked.

Rachel nodded in silence. When Noah kissed her wrist, the pain seemed to ebb. _Huh. I think he literally kissed the pain away._ She brought her eyes down to his lips and then licked hers. God, she wanted to taste his so bad- HIS lips and no one else's. And she wanted him to taste hers. Not Quinn, Santana, Brittany or any other girl he's been with. Just hers.

Puck took her tongue sliding across her mouth as an invitation. He didn't need a second one. He put his lips down to hers in a gentle way, almost like experimenting to see if this was what she really wanted. When she opened her mouth more and touched her tongue to his bottom lip, he figured that was a good answer to his question. He plunged his tongue into her mouth and she fought back. They began a dance to see who could dominate the other, even though neither really cared.

As he drew his arms around her, Rachel reached her arm up and around his neck to bring him closer. She didn't just want his lips, she wanted the whole package._ Hmmm, package_ she thought lustfully. She reached her hand down to his towel and loosened it. It dropped with a slight thud. When Noah moved his mouth to her neck, Rachel took the opportunity to see if the legend of the "Puckasauras" was true. When she caught a glimpse, her breath hitched in her throat and she couldn't breathe.

Puck felt her hand free him of his towel. He certainly wasn't ashamed of his raging hard on, but he was concerned when Rachel stopped breathing. He stopped at her collarbone and looked at her. "Rach, you ok?"

Rachel couldn't breathe. He was bigger than she imagined and she wasn't even seeing the whole thing! She couldn't help that she was having a panic attack. She looked up and saw Noah's face etched with concern so she tried her best to speak. "Huge." It was all she could manage to say (because it had the softer syllables so she didn't have to strain to talk. Yeah, we'll go with that) but guessing from the huge grin coming across his face, she was glad that was the word she chose.

Nothing sounds greater to a man's ears than when a woman says the word "huge" while looking at his penis. Puck is no exception. His ego had shot through the roof and now, he had to prove why he was such a legend. He lowered his hands from her waist to the bottom of her robe and started his ascent up her legs. He was slightly disappointed that she wasn't completely naked, but it was quickly dissipated when his fingers felt a thin piece of lace. Knowing Rachel, he would've picked that they were white.

He let his mouth wander down the front of her robe, stopping momentarily to lick the valley between her breasts. As his body went lower, his fingers hooked the thin material and dragged it down her tanned legs. He paused in his descent to rub her leg appreciatively. "Fuck Berry" he groaned out. He caught her expression and hastened to explain. "You have the best legs I have ever seen. And I mean that." He secretly wondered how Finn managed not to shout to the world how exceedingly hot his girlfriend was when they were together.

Rachel couldn't help but smile as Noah made his way down her body. She wasn't ashamed or embarrassed by it because frankly, she had a good body. When he complimented on her legs, she couldn't hide her blush even if she wanted to. His lips had felt so good. She could feel the electricity between them and it made her hot…and wet. She knew he would de-panty her. It was only fair- he was naked, she should be too. She looked down at Noah who was staring directly into her eyes as he brought her underwear to her ankles. He motioned for her to step out so she did. When she felt his hand travel further up her leg, her head tilted back against the air and her hands flew to his scalp.

Puck took Rachel's head being back as an opportunity to see if he was right about her underwear's color. He smirked when he saw they were bright red instead of white. _I knew there was a little devil somewhere in there_ he thought. His hands resumed their journey upward until they reached just below her butt. He pulled her leg over his shoulder and dragged one his hands across her skin until he brought it back out to loosen the tie on her robe. He watched as it fell from her body and stared in awe. _Jesus, even her robe is graceful. _His lungs stopped producing air as he stared at her body. He literally couldn't even think as he surveyed the position she was in- her tanned body stretched out with a leg over his should and her head tilted back. She was stunning.

Rachel brought her forward to look at Noah when she didn't feel any movement. "What's wrong? Did I do something?"

Puck laughed at Rachel's assumptions. "Are you kidding? You're fucking perfect Rachel. I'm just trying to think of why I never thought of doing this before."

"Well stop thinking and start acting" Rachel demanded. She was so turned on, it was painful. If she didn't find a way to release some of her tension, she was going to explode.

Puck did as commanded. He brought his mouth to her stomach and started to work his way down as Rachel started to slowly rock her hips.

KNOCK KNOCK.

Puck was pretty sure that whoever it was at the door was fixing to meet their maker.

"Puck! I know you're in there! Open up!"

Puck shot up from his knees to find a frightened Rachel staring at him. Clearly, she hadn't heard the doorbell and normally, he would be proud of himself for getting her so worked up but right now, he needed her to hide. He grabbed his towel and looked for her robe.

Picking it up, he put it around her body and ushered her toward the bathroom. She started to protest, but he covered her mouth with his hand (something she would reprimand him for later) and made a motion to be quiet.

BANG! BANG! BANG! "Puckerman! What the hell are you doing in there?"

"I'm coming! Jesus stop banging on the fuckin door!" Puck bellowed. He succeeded in getting Rachel into the bathroom, wrapped his towel around his waist and opened to the door to find a fuming Sam in the doorway. "What the fuck Evans? What the fuck's wrong with your key?"

"We have to talk. Tell Rachel she can come out the bathroom" he said knowingly. He saw Puck's surprised expression and gave a small snort. "Come on, it's important."

Puck nodded in acknowledgment. "K, give me a minute."

"Oh and Puck?"

"Yeah?"

"Put on some pants man."

Puck smirked and opened the bathroom door to see a nervous Rachel sitting on the counter. "Babe, I gotta talk to Sam real quick but I want you to stay here ok? I'll be back in minute." He went to find his sweatpants and headed out.

He left so quick that Rachel couldn't even protest. She definitely didn't appreciate being tossed into bathroom like a common prostitute hiding from a man's wife. But since it was Sam, she guessed he did it to save her embarrassment. She wasn't completely sold on that theory but it held off her anger. She wondered what they were talking about so she stuck her head out the door to hear a little better. They had walked all the way down to the elevator so she couldn't hear a thing.

Suddenly, the door across the hall opened and she could see a person emerging. She stood up a little straighter when she saw who it was and what they were carrying.

**Meanwhile…**

Puck was getting anxious leaving Rachel alone but he really wanted to know what Sam had to say. "This better be good dude."

"That Saint kid is staying here" Sam blurted out.

"You mean St. James? How do you know?"

"I was in the lobby looking for Kurt when I overheard the receptionist say his name. I figured how many people can be named Jesse St. James? I walked closer and I heard him tell her that a Sue Sylvester has paid for the room."

"That bitch" Puck said angrily.

"I'm not done. Three guesses which floor he's on?"

He definitely didn't need three, or even one."I knew it."

"What the hell are we going to do? We have her mom up here, and now we got him down there! How are we gonna manage both? There's only so many of us and Rachel's gonna get suspicious if everyone's around her all the time. I mean, she may be annoying but she's not stupid."

Puck nodded in agreement. "We'll just have to persuade the girls to hang out with her."

"Like who? Santana and Quinn? If they start being nice and hanging around her, she'll know something's up and if they're mean to her, she won't want to go anywhere with them."

Puck was just about to offer a suggestion when he heard Sam say his name. He looked up at Sam and noticed that he was staring over his shoulder. He quickly whipped his head around and saw Rachel leaning out the door, looking at someone. _Shit!_ "Rachel!" he yelled as he and Sam ran down the hall. He could only hope that Shelby had a roommate and that it was them who had caught Rachel's attention. "Rach." He called as she stepped out into the hallway.

"Oh my God, Noah" Rachel breathed as they ran up to the room just as a man was emerging. "Do you think room service is paid for too?"

Puck and Sam each let out a breath they had been holding as they saw a man in a white uniform coming out the room holding an empty tray. Even though it was a close call, they weren't out of the woods yet. Shelby could come out at any second. "Hey, why don't we go back into the room and order some?" Puck said hurriedly.

Rachel's stomach grew hungry as she watched the man walk down to the employees' elevator. "Sounds great! I'm starved."

Sam and Puck followed Rachel in but passed her since she lingered by the door. She saw that the latch would prevent the door from shutting all the way but as she went to fix it, a small figure caught her eye.

A little blond girl with pouty lips and hazel eyes was staring at her as the door was closing. Those eyes looked familiar- too familiar.

"Babe? You wanna look at the menu?" She heard his voice right behind her. Rachel turned around to face him and looked directly into the same pair of hazel eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks again for the reviews and alerts and favorites (OH MY!). I put a lot into the last chapter, so this one will be dialed back a bit to focus on Rachel and what's going on in her head. By the way, did anyone else really love her performance in tonight's episode? Anyway, hope y'all like this chapter!**

Chapter 4

Rachel shook her head and opened the door. "No, I-I can't" she said hurriedly. "I'm really tired and if I don't get some sleep, I'll be tired in the morning and since we're practicing I have to be focused." She grabbed Kurt's bag from Sam and started out the door.

"Hey, Rachel" Sam called out. Rachel turned to look at him and blushed when she saw what he was holding. "You forgot something." He tossed her underwear at her and she tucked it in the pocket of her robe.

"Thanks. Bye." She fast- walked down the hall and was waiting for elevator when she saw Noah running toward her.

"What the hell Berry? You're just going to leave?"

"We shouldn't have done what we were about to do."

"Order room service?" he asked, confused.

She sighed heavily and responded, "I would say you can't possibly be that stupid, but considering that I was just naked in front of you when no more than four hours ago, you completely disgusted me I think I deserve that title."

Puck had caught maybe three or four words because she was talking so fast. "So does this mean you're not hungry?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and turned her face toward him. "Noah, I'm not exactly sure what you want, but whatever it is, I can't give it to you. I'm sorry I gave you the wrong idea earlier, but I think that it's best if we don't do that anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because guys like you are only after one thing. And I refuse to be another notch on your already full belt."

"Guys like me? What kind would that be Berry?"He was a little offended by her accusation. Did she not know him at all?

"The sex kind!" she said with a scrunched nose.

"You're running away because you felt something. You and I both know it." He said with a matter of fact of tone.

"The only thing I felt was disgust." She said indignantly. The elevator dinged and she stepped in. Pressing the button, she looked at Noah's hurt expression and gently said, "You don't really want me Noah. You just want what I won't give you." With that remark, the door had closed and she was on her way down to her room.

Puck stood at the elevator staring at the golden door that shut on him. At first he was hurt that all she thought he wanted was sex, and then angry because for a second, he knew she was right. But as he walked to into his room, he got more and more pissed at what she was implying. If she thought he was nothing more than a sex machine that was incapable of feeling, then he would just have to prove her wrong.

Rachel had burst into tears the moment the door closed. She wasn't sure why she was crying but it seemed the most sensible thing to do. She was so tired of being second fiddle to women, even strangers. She couldn't deny that her skin tingled with electricity whenever he touched her and it made her mad that he was right that she felt something. _But does he?_ She thought to herself. He had no problem making her face her feelings, but it irritated her that he refused to do the same. She needed more than just actions; she needed to know without a doubt that if Noah wanted her, it was for all of her, not just sex. Still, he did have a way of making her forget everything that she was insecure about.

The door dinged open and she stepped out to walk to her room, hoping Kurt was in there so she would have someone to talk to. As she opened the door, her smile disappeared when she saw Finn standing in the middle of the room.

"Finn" Rachel said surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Finn looked uncomfortable as he saw Rachel in only a short robe and messy hair. Quinn would kill him if she found out that he was in her room while she was dressed like that.

"He was helping me." Kurt replied as he poked his head out of the bathroom. "I couldn't find the sheet music so we were looking through my bags."

"I- I was on my way out so I'll see you tomorrow Kurt." He rubbed his hands on his jacket and walked toward the door. "Rachel. Have a good night."

Rachel nodded in response and when the door finally shut, Rachel turned to face Kurt with a concerned expression.

"Rachel, are you okay?" When he saw her eyes brimming with tears he pulled her toward the bed. "What happened?"

"He kissed me. I didn't mean to, it just happened." Rachel spilled out.

"Who? Puck?"

Rachel nodded in response, "Oh my God. What if Finn finds out? He'll never forgive me! I'm so stupid!" She started to hyperventilate the more she thought about it.

"Ok, Rachel I need you to take a deep breath for me." Rachel did as she was told. "Ok, now slowly release it." Again, she complied. "I hate to break it to you, but Finn hasn't forgiven you for the last time it happened" he reminded her softly. "Did you kiss him back?"

"Yes." It nearly killed her to admit it, but there was no way she could hide it.

"Why?" He asked while handing her a box of tissues.

Rachel crooked her head slightly and blew her nose. "I don't know. It just happened."

Kurt rolled his eyes at how dense the brunette could be sometimes. "You didn't have to. Puck may not be the most gentlemanly of guys, but that doesn't mean he's a complete brute. If you said no, he would've backed off." A light bulb went off in Kurt's head and he felt like an idiot for realizing it earlier. "You didn't want him to stop did you?" he accused.

Rachel looked offended at the accusation; even if he was right, she didn't want him to know. "How can you say that? You know I love N- Finn! Finn! I love Finn!" _Damn!_

Kurt gasped and pointed a finger. "You love Puck!" He shouted while nodding his head. "You do! You love Puck!"

Rachel was shaking her vigorously trying to find some way to recover, "No! I don't! It was a simple slip-up. That's all!"

"Rachel, please. Once is a slip up, twice is Freudian" Kurt protested. He held up his hand to stop her. "Look, I know you have this obsession with Finn and I totally understand because I've been there myself. But have you ever thought that perhaps there's a deeper reason why you always turn to Puck when things go bad?"

Rachel closed her mouth, her protest dying as she did so. She had never thought about how out of all the guys, she would only care about Noah's opinion. "He just wants in my pants." She objected.

_Jesus, this is going to be harder than I thought_, Kurt wondered to himself. "Rachel, the only time that he's hit on you was when you dated for a week. All the other times, it was you who initiated it. Am I right?"

Of course he was. When she thought about it, every time she asked him to help her with something, he would without asking for anything in return. "That's true."

"And, if I remember correctly about what you told me during Sectionals in the green room, he was the only one who said he liked you."

"He said he _kinda_ liked me" she said quietly.

"Hm. And what did Finn say?" When Rachel looked down, Kurt knew he hit a nerve.

"We were fighting. That doesn't count."

"Rachel, that's ridiculous. Fighting is when it matters most. Even when Blaine and I fight, we still stick up for each other." He could tell she was on the verge of a breakdown so he decided to change the subject. "Did you get my bag from Sam?"

"Yeah. It's right there" she said, pointing to the dresser. She watched Kurt open it and pull out some facial cleanser. "Do you think Finn will find out?" she asked as he went to the bathroom to wash his face.

"Rachel," he called back. "What are you afraid he'll do if he does?"

"That he won't want me back I guess."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Kurt had finished washing his face and emerged from the restroom. Rachel was already dressed for bed and pulling her covers back. Her face contorted into a mixed expression of confusion and irritation at his question. "You and Finn had something special, I think everyone knows that. But what if it ran its course? Ten years from now, he would've moved on while you're still chasing him in good 'ole Lima, Ohio."

A tear ran down Rachel's cheek as she started to absorb what Kurt was saying. Finn had Quinn and even if they didn't work out, he would find someone else and she would still be pining after him. "Maybe you're right."

"Of course I'm right. Rachel, what happened to you? You used to not care what anyone thought. You were a pain in our asses, but you had your dreams. Now here we are in New York of all places and all you can think about is Finn. A year ago, you would've been dragging us all over Broadway and forcing us to watch every single musical, which I wouldn't mind but I don't think anyone else would be so enthusiastic."

"I don't know." Rachel admitted. "I guess I just loved Finn so much that nothing else mattered."

"Well, your dreams matter. They matter to everyone who loves you- including Puck." Kurt knew he was probably reaching when he included Puck's name but he was 98% sure that Puck was in love with Rachel. The other 2% he knew was a strong like. Either way, he was safe.

"Hm. You really think he likes me? I mean _me_. Not just my voice or to get into my pants?" Rachel asked as she crawled into bed. Kurt followed her example.

"First, everyone loves your voice so yes, I'm sure that's a factor. As for the second, I have no idea. You should probably ask him." Kurt winked and Rachel smiled.

"Night, Kurt." Rachel said as she flipped off her light.

"Night, diva." Kurt replied.

Rachel giggled and shut her eyes. She could feel herself drifting further into a deep sleep.

_Knock knock._

_Rachel looked over to her clock and saw the time: 4:00 am. She'd been asleep for about three hours._

_Knock knock. _

_Groggily, she sat up and looked over to where Kurt's bed was but didn't see him. Figuring he was in the bathroom or something, she got up to answer to the door. _

"_Noah" she breathed out. He was in his boxers and looked hungry. He grabbed her by the waist and kissed her while pushing himself into the bedroom, still holding onto her. "What are you doing?"_

_His lips traveled down her neck until he reached her collarbone. His hands grasped at her flimsy nightgown and pulled up over her head. "I'm finishing what we started" he growled out. _

"_But, why me? Why not Santana?" God, she could barely breathe she was so intoxicated by him._

_He looked up into her eyes. "Come on Berry. You're not stupid. You know why I want you." He resumed his former pace starting back at her collarbone and worked his way across her skin to the other side of her neck._

"_Tell me. I need to hear it Noah." She pleaded. _

_He looked at her with knitted brows and said in a serious tone, "Because I love you."_

_Rachel's breath hitched in her throat. Did she really just hear Noah Puckerman say the "L" word…and mean it? "What?"she asked, completely stunned._

_Puck smiled, "I love you Rachel. I'm not gonna lie and say that I always have, because we both know that's not true" he saw her mouth turning into a frown and hastened to explain. "But I do love you" he said while pulling her chin back up. _

"_What about Finn?"_

_His smile faded instantly into a scowl. "What about him?"_

"_He's going to be mad."_

"_Says who? His opinion shouldn't matter Rach. He's not your boyfriend anymore. He's moved on, so should you."_

"_He does matter. He matters to me."Rachel said defensively._

"_Why? Why him? Why not me?" He asked with pleading eyes._

"_I- I don't know Noah."Rachel honestly had no answer for that._

"_Don't play stupid. You're too smart for that Berry. You know the reason why you can't let him go and I think that after what I just said, that I deserve an explanation" He demanded._

"_I told you I don't know!"_

"_That's bullshit! Tell me why!"Puck hollered._

"_Because he's safe all right!" Rachel couldn't believe she just said that._

_Completely taken off guard, Puck asked the only thing he could think of. "What?"_

_Rachel hung her head and sighed, helping calm her down. "He's safe. I don't have to worry about him cheating. He tells me I'm beautiful when I feel ugly, or how great I am when I doubt myself. He's safe."_

"_He's your Yes Man." Puck spit out bitterly. "It's fucking disgusting."_

"_You asked so I answered. Don't get mad at me for being honest."_

"_I'm mad at you for being a fucking victim! Just because a guy isn't telling you how great you look 24/7 doesn't mean he's not thinking it. God! You're so pathetic!"_

"_I'm not pathetic!"_

"_You're willing to let your dreams and ambitions go for someone who tells you what you want to hear. That's pathetic Rachel. Just because I'm not following you around like a fucking puppy telling you how beautiful or talented you are doesn't mean I don't want to. You won't let anyone since you're so focused on Hudson!"_

"_I am not! I'm still the same Rachel!"_

"_Prove it" he demanded. "Show me the girl that annoys me to no end. Show me the girl I fell in love with" He challenged._

Rachel woke with a start. "Whoa" she muttered to herself. She's never had a revelation during a dream before and it kinda scared her. Blowing out a breath, she sat up in bed and looked over at her clock. 4:00 am. _Now that's freaky. _She got up to go to get a drink of water but the pitcher was empty. She'd have to get some herself. Remembering a water fountain down the hall, she put on her robe and made her out of the room, being careful not to wake up Kurt.

The whole way down the hall, she kept thinking about the dream and what Puck said. His declaration of love, her epiphany of why she was so attached to Finn. It was a lot of information stuffed into a dream. She had just stopped at the fountain when she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey Berry."

"Jesse?"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm so ecstatic at the alerts and favorites this story has gotten! I never really understood why some authors practically beg for reviews, but now I do. They really help boost the self esteem and makes me want to write the story even better. Fair warning: This chapter is super short (like shorter than Rachel's skirts). I was gonna make it longer but I just really felt like this was a good place to end the encounter between Rachel and Jesse. I'm already writing the next chapter and I promise that it'll be up tomorrow. **

Chapter 5

Rachel thought she was still dreaming. There was no way Jesse would be at Nationals, much less in the same hotel as her.

"Rachel, you okay?" Jesse asked in a concerned voice. He waved his hand in front of her, hoping to get a response. When that didn't work, he pinched her on the upper arm hard enough to make her jump.

"Ow!" Rachel yelled out. "Did you just _pinch_ me?" What was with her getting hurt tonight?

"Well you weren't responding so I did what was necessary to achieve a reaction from you" Jesse said defensively.

"That's weird. You're still here, which means I must still be dreaming." Rachel rationalized. _Yup. That's it. _She thought as she took a gulp of water.

Jesse couldn't help but laugh at her. "What are you talking about? You're not dreaming."

When the cloud lifted from her sleepy mind, Rachel switched from surprise to pissed off. "Then why the hell are you here? To mess with me?"

"What? No. I'm here to support Vocal Adrenaline. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Are you telling me the truth this time?" Rachel asked cautiously. There was no way she was going to let him spoil New Directions chances.

Jesse replied in earnest, "I learned my lesson last time. I won't ever do anything like that again Rachel. I swear on Barbra Streisand."

Rachel gasped. No ever swore on Barbra unless they meant it- at least, not the people in Rachel Berry's world. His promise made her smile her genuine smile. Her relationship with Jesse had ended so abruptly that she often secretely wondered if there was still something left between them. After the egging incident, Rachel's focus became all about the competition and with Finn declaring his love for her, she thought she had moved on. But after Finn broke up with her, she couldn't help but think about Jesse from time to time. He certainly understood her better than most because his passion for the stage rivaled her own. Perhaps him being here was a sign that they weren't really done.

Jesse waited for a response, hoping it was the one he wanted to here. When he saw her smile, he knew he was back into her trust. All he had to do was mention Barbra and she melted like butter. He pulled her into a bear hug and just stayed like that for a minute or two to let her know that he meant what he said. "Come on," he motioned his head toward his room. "Let's get you back to sleep. I'm sure you have a big day tomorrow."

Rachel resisted at first. She wasn't sure where it was going to lead. "I don't know. I'm sharing my room with Kurt and I don't want him to worry. I think I should just go back to my room."

"You'll probably wake him if you go back in now. You're a lot of things Rach, but quiet is not one of them."

Rachel bit her lip and thought about it. "I have to let him know where I am otherwise he'll worry."

"I'll slip a note under his door when I get up tomorrow. I have to be somewhere anyway at like seven a.m." He promised. "Come on, I'm sure you must be tired."

Rachel was going to say no, but something inside begged her to be impulsive. She remembered what Noah said earlier about her running away. What was she so afraid of? This was Jesse she was talking to. With that thought, Rachel smiled and gave an eager nod. She took his hand when he held it out and walked to his room. She saw he only had one bag and there were no signs of a roommate. "You're staying by yourself?"

"Yeah" he replied, leading her over to the far bed. "I'm flying solo this trip." Things began to feel awkward so he pulled the covers back on his bed. Rachel followed him and slipped into her own.

They stared at each other for a while until Rachel couldn't hold her eyes open anymore. As she drifted off to sleep, she managed mutter a good night to Jesse and heard a sleepy "G'nite" in reply. Rachel smiled and let herself sink back into her dreams.

**A/N2: Told you this was super short. I hope y'all like it despite the short length because this is really setting up for the consequences of Rachel's decision she made. Like I said, the next chapter will be up tomorrow and it'll be full of Puckelberry moments along with Faberry and maybe some Pezberry. Stay tuned and review! **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: First off, I'm really sorry I didn't get this up sooner but I had a family emergency to deal with all day. Fortunately, I'm keeping my promise though:) Thanks so much for the reviews and alerts! I know some want Jesse to be good, while others want him to get an asskicking lol. Personally, I like Jon Groffe, but I HATE Jesse so I'll do my best to please both groups. Anyway, here's chapter 6. **

Chapter 6

Puck looked over at his clock and groaned. The Glee club had to meet in the lobby in 10 minutes and he was in no shape to see Rachel. He had finally gone to sleep around 4:00 a.m. but his mind wouldn't let him rest peacefully. The conversation at the elevator had pissed him off so much that his brain kept replaying the image of Rachel standing in the elevator telling him that all he wanted was sex. By time he had gotten back to his room, Sam had decided that it was sleep time. Puck desperately wished he could've at least gotten Sam's opinion before he went to bed, but decided that as pissed off as he was, he wasn't a pussy and didn't really need to talk.

This morning, however, proved him wrong. Looking in the mirror at his reflection, he was surprised at the bags under his eyes and the deep circles that accompanied them.

"Oh good you're up" Sam said as he made his way out of the bathroom. "We gotta be down there in like, 5 minutes so if you want to take a shower, you better do it now." When Puck turned around to face Sam, he couldn't help but comment on his roommate's disheveled look, "Whoa, man. You look terrible."

Puck scowled and ran water over his face to wake him up. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"You?" Sam snorted. "What about me? You kept me up half the night with your mumblings. You know, I never would've guessed you talked in your sleep. It's actually quite annoying."

Puck put on his deodorant and dug a shirt out his bag, along with some jeans. "What are you talking about? I don't talk in my sleep." He said as he put his shirt on.

"Oh, so I imagined you talking to Rachel? I don't think so. The only time you stopped was when I started throwing things at you."

"Is that why I went to bed with two pillows and woke up with like five?"

"Yeah" Sam chuckled. "You ready? We're late."

Puck grabbed his jacket and followed Sam out into the hallway but paused in front of Shelby's door. He remembered Rachel staring into the doorway last night before she left. Something had caught her eye, but it obviously hadn't been Shelby otherwise she wouldn't have left. Shaking hi head he jogged to where Sam was at the elevator. "Dude, I thought you take stairs?"

Sam shrugged. "I like to change it up sometimes. Hey, you think that St. James kid is up?"

This time Puck shrugged. "If he is, he better pray he doesn't run into me."

"Us." Sam stated. Puck whipped his head toward him with a puzzled expression. "You're not the only one who cares about Rachel, Puck."

"Since when do care about Berry? Have you ever even talked to her?" Puck's curiosity had just risen a couple of levels. He hadn't ever seen Sam and Rachel look at each other, much less talk.

"Well she and Hudson came by the motel and brought me some stuff. She also asked me to prom. I turned her down but when all the drama happened that night, I danced with her to take her mind off everything. After that, we sorta got close." He looked over to see an almost angry Puck glaring at him. "I- I mean we're not best friends or anything" he explained quickly. "We just bonded over everything that happened."

Puck reigned in the glaring. He hadn't realized he was even doing it until Sam explained everything. "So, you like her?" He seriously hoped Sam would say what he wanted to hear; otherwise his roommate would be sharing a room with St. James.

Sam shook his head, "Nah. Don't get me wrong, she's great when she's not being annoying but she's not my type."

Puck let out a silent breath and relaxed. "Not your type? Who is? Quinn?" This time, Puck received a glare from Sam and decided that dropping the subject would be best. Luckily, the elevator reached the lobby then and both boys stepped out to see their fellow classmates waiting for them.

"What's up?" Puck asked. He knew something was wrong when he saw Mr. Schue look at him with expectation. No one ever looked at him like that unless something bad happened and people thought he did it, or he was throwing a party and they were looking for some condoms. He seriously doubted that Mr. Schue was looking for condoms.

"We can't find Rachel" Finn said with concern.

Puck looked over everyone's expressions and even Quinn and Santana looked worried. "She's probably in her room getting ready." Despite his careless attitude, Puck was kinda nervous. Rachel was _never_ late, especially when it came to practice.

The elevator dinged and the group saw Kurt strut out, wearing a kilt with tight pants underneath with a green silk shirt and a coat that looked more like a straight jacket than a coat.

"Hello everyone, sorry I'm late. Rachel was supposed to wake me up but clearly, she forgot" Kurt let eyes roam over the group and didn't spot his roommate. "Where is she anyway?"

Everyone looked at each other until Mr. Schue stepped toward Kurt and said in his most careful voice so he wouldn't alarm anyone, "You mean you haven't seen her?"

Kurt looked extremely confused. "No. I assumed when I woke up that she was down here. Wait- you mean you haven't seen her either?"

Mercedes shook her head, "None of us have. We thought she was with you."

"No, I mean I saw her when she came from Puck's but then we went to bed."

Everyone turned to stare at Puck. "What the hell did you do Puckerman?" Santana yelled.

Puck put his hands up in a defensive motion. "I didn't do anything! She came to my room to exchange Sam's bag for Hummel's!"

"Sam, is this true?" Mr. Schue asked.

"For the most part" Sam replied. His remark earned a glower from Puck and a plethora of different looks from the others. "I mean, she was in there when I came back from looking for Kurt."

"Did she stay the night?" Mr. Schue asked with a disapproving tone.

"NO!" yelled both guys. Puck had a defensive tone while Sam had a more explanatory tone, but both wanted everyone to know that whatever happened, they weren't at fault.

"Okay." Mr. Schue said calmly. "So when did you last see her?"

"About one" Sam said.

"You sure you didn't see her after?"

"No. I mean, I didn't. She left the room in a hurry."

The looks Sam and Puck were giving each other didn't go unnoticed by Mr. Schue. "What aren't you telling me?" He saw the two guys giving each other a look that seemed like a warning. "Puck, Sam. Tell me."

Puck let out a heavy sigh,_ Where to begin._ "Well, last night Sam and I heard Rachel singing in a room across the hall."

"That's impossible" Mercedes said. "I was in her room until she got Kurt's text."

Puck and Sam looked at each other and shifted their feet. "Yeah, well- um. It wasn't Rachel." Sam responded.

Everyone gave them a confused look. "I went over to the room and told Berry to shut it because we needed sleep" Puck continued. "But when the door opened, it wasn't Rachel."

"Who was it?" Mr. Schue asked.

"Miss Corcoran."

Everyone let their mouths hang open for a good minute when Sam decided to tell them the rest of the news.

"That's not all" he said carefully. "Last night, when I was down here looking for Kurt, I overheard Jesse St. James checking in."

After five minutes of being completely silent, Puck was surprised to hear Santana speak up first. "What the hell?"

"Santana" Mr. Schue warned.

"Mr. Schue, come on! The only people on the planet who are able to mess with Yentl's head just happen to be staying in the same hotel as us? Don't tell me you don't think this is a coincidence!"

"I don't know what to think" Will said. His head was reeling from the information he just received. Of course, he knew exactly who planned this, but he didn't want his kids to focus on that.

"Mr. Schue" Kurt said. "I gotta go with Santana's thought on this. I mean think about it: First we find out that Jesse was heard talking to Coach Sylvester, and then out of nowhere we get this huge donation to stay at a hotel that just happens to be hosting every other Glee club competing, thereby ensuring that we would have to split up, Miss Corcoran is across from Puck and now Jesse is staying here too. I can only imagine where his room is." He added bitterly.

"He's on your floor" Sam stated to Kurt.

"What?" Mr. Schue asked in shock.

"Yeah, I overheard him talking to the receptionist last night and he said that Coach Sylvester paid for a room on the third floor" Sam was amazed that Kurt hadn't seen Jesse yet. This guy could be a ninja.

Just as Sam finished his revelation, Rachel Berry stepped from the elevator and practically skipped to where her classmates were.

"Rachel Berry!" Will Schuester shouted.

_Uh oh,_ Rachel thought. She saw all eleven of her classmates snap their heads up when Mr. Schue said her name. Clearly, something was wrong and she was pretty sure she could feel the anger rolling off their bodies. "Is everything ok?"

"Where have you been?" Puck demanded.

Before Rachel could answer, Mr. Schue reprimanded Puck for doing his job. "Puck, let me handle this" he said. He turned toward Rachel and gave her the most intense stare he could muster. He didn't want to yell at his student so he tried to soften his tone. "Rachel, where have you been?"

She didn't want to show it, but Rachel was frightened. Everyone was looking at her like she'd just blew a note during a life or death performance. "I-I- I was in my room getting ready."

"Bullshit Man Hands!" Santana shouted. "We sat here and got worried over you, hobbit so spill it!"

"Where did you go after you left Puckerman's room?" Mr. Schue asked. "Did you go see Miss Corcoran?"

Rachel's eyes widened and her shocked expression made Will wish he could chew his tongue off. "I ran into Jesse" Rachel explained quickly. Did she really just hear that Shelby was here? "My mother's here?"

For the first time since Rachel stepped from the elevator, everyone's faces fell into despair. Now that Rachel knew about Shelby, her head would be permanently out of the game.

"No. You _mother_ isn't here. Shelby is" Quinn spit out.

Rachel narrowed her eyes. "So is Beth" she snapped back. At first, Rachel wasn't sure that it was Beth she had actually seen, but when Mr. Schue had said that Shelby was here, her suspicions were confirmed.

Puck felt as though someone had just punched him in the stomach. His daughter was here?

"How do you know that Rachel?" Mr. Schue asked carefully- and quietly.

"Jesse probably told her" Tina chimed in.

Rachel rolled her eyes dramatically. She was tired of her teammates acting like everything was her fault. Even when Sam's personal life was under scrutiny, Santana blamed Rachel because she was sure the brunette did something. "I saw her." she spat out. Wait- they knew about Jesse? "How do you know Jesse's here?"

Quinn couldn't breathe. She didn't want to see Beth but since the little girl was in the same hotel, it would only be a matter of time. She wasn't ready to see her. She'd spent the summer and the rest of the year trying to forget what happened when she had her daughter. She glanced up at Rachel's bewildered expression and decided that if they were gonna have it out, there was no better time than now. "We've known since we were on the plane." She felt Finn grasp her hand in an effort to stop her but she was determined to break Rachel down once and for all. "We didn't tell you because we knew that you'd go off with him and ruin our chances."

No one even dared to talk. This was a fight between Quinn and Rachel that was a long time coming and no matter whom won, they as a group, lost. If Rachel won, Quinn wouldn't go onstage, leaving under the minimum group number. If Quinn won, not only would they be short one, but they'd be out their star singer.

Rachel was not about to let Quinn mess with her head. "You know what your problem is Fabray? You're jealous!"

"Jealous! Of what? you? You are nothing! You're a short, ugly, RuPaul hobbit look- a- like!"

Rachel snapped. "I've lived with you bullying and putting me down my whole life Quinn and you know something? I'm sick of it! If I'm ugly, then fine! At least I'm comfortable enough with myself to know that! And you're jealous because I'm gonna get out of Lima and make something of my life and you can't stand that! You can't stand to know that while I'm going to be recognized for my talent, you'll be branded as the girl who cheated on her boyfriend with his best friend, got pregnant while being president of the _celibacy club_ and peaked in high school!"

When Rachel finished, there were multiple people in the lobby staring at the scene they had created. No one in the Glee club noticed because frankly, they couldn't believe what just happened- even Santana was left speechless. The shocked expressions and silence reminded them of what happened when Santana spilled the beans about her and Finn before Sectionals, only this was much more intense…and public.

Rachel was glaring at Quinn while Quinn was on the verge of tears. Finally, the blonde spoke in a soft, but harsh voice. "Well at least people like me."

Rachel blinked rapidly as the words Santana spoke earlier in the year resounded in her mind. She went to step closer to Quinn when she felt a hand grasp her upper arm, right where Jesse had pinched her. She flinched in pain. "Ow!"

Puck released Rachel's arm and noticed a black and blue spot. "Jesus, Berry. Where'd you get that from?" he asked while examining the wound.

"Jesse." Rachel replied. Had she known what would've happened next, she would've just made up an excuse.

Puck went from concerned to fuming mad in the time it took Rachel to finish saying his name. "He did this to you?" he asked in a biting tone. He was going to kill that fucking curly haired fuck.

"Yes, but it's not like that." Rachel hastened to explain.

"What do you mean?" Mr. Schue asked. He was incredibly grateful for the change of subject.

"Last night, I ran into Jesse in the hallway and we talked. I thought I was dreaming so he pinched me. That's all."

"So that's where you last night." Kurt declared.

Puck looked from Rachel, to Kurt, then back to Rachel. "What's he talking about?" There was no way she'd sleep with Jesse. She wouldn't do that.

"I slept in Jesse's room last night" Rachel admitted with her head down.

Everyone had just started to breathe again until Rachel's admission. Now they were back to holding their breath again. They all stared at Puck, waiting for a reaction.

Just when Mr. Schue started to say something to break up the tension, the elevator dinged open and out came Jesse St. James with Shelby Corcoran. They saw the Glee club standing in the lobby and could instantly feel the anger seeping from the group. Shelby saw her daughter standing close to Quinn with her hands on her hips. It didn't take much detective work to see that a fight had just occurred.

"Hello" Shelby said awkwardly. She secretly thanked God for getting a babysit to watch Beth, otherwise this would be even more uncomfortable.

Mr. Schue put on his fakest smile ever and returned a weak "Hello."

Jesse walked by the glares and then saw Rachel. "See you later Rach."

Puck couldn't help his reaction. He didn't even know he was doing it. But he lunged at Jesse, landing on him hard and pushing him to the ground. He wasn't surprised that Jesse was weak. The kid was a singer, not a fighter. Normally, Puck would take it easy on a weakling, but his hatred for Jesse, Rachel staying with Jesse rather than him, and the bruise he gave her all just built up until it exploded. He kept punching despite being pulled back by Mike, Sam, Finn and Mr. Schue.

While the boys were trying to get Puck off, Santana was smiling, Brittany was confused, Kurt was horrified, and Rachel was pleading for Puck to stop. Quinn was crying because Rachel told her off, Mercedes stared in disbelief, and Tina was admiring her boyfriend's strength. The scene was nothing but chaotic and embarrassing.

Finally, Puck was peeled off Jesse though the all the guys were still holding him back. Jesse gathered his wits and stood up, holding his bleeding nose.

"You broke my nose!" he announced.

"You're lucky that's all I broke!" Puck shot back.

"Puck! Calm down!" Mr. Schue tried but failed to calm him down. "Guys, take him outside."

Mike, Sam and Finn dragged Puck outside before security could throw them out.

Mr. Schue faced Shelby and Jesse, obviously embarrassed at his student's behavior- including the girls. "Jesse, I-I'm sorry."

Rachel made her way over to Jesse and was trying to help him. Jesse waved off his apology, "It's not your fault. He's an Alpha male so I'm not surprised." He tilted his back to stop the blood flow from his nose. Shelby stepped in to help, causing Rachel to step back and join her teammates.

"I assume you're going to punish your student, William" Shelby stated.

"Oh, yes." Though his words were short, the tone was unmistakable. Puck was in serious trouble.

"Come on Jesse. Let's get going. They have a first aid kit at the theater" Shelby encouraged. She glanced over at Rachel and exited the building.

When Shelby and Jesse left, Will turned to Rachel and Quinn with a disappointed face. They definitely knew they were in for a lecture. "I can't express how disappointed I am with you two girls. What you did was inexcusable!"

"You know what's inexcusable?" Rachel questioned. "That you let the bullying happen. Right in front of your face. How many times has Santana called me a hurtful name? How many times has something happened to Kurt and no one says a thing until he's threatened! Sue bullies us left and right and you stand up to her but when its one of our own you don't say anything? You could stop it but instead you sit there and let it happen! I'm sick of it!"

"Yeah well I'm sick of your attitude Rachel! You always complain and you never help out!"

"Oh really? Who took Santana's side when she said she didn't give the set list to Sue last year? Me! Who encourages people when they feel lonely or an even bigger outcast? Me! Then when I say something, everyone jumps on me and tells me how awful I am! I am _so_ sick of it! You wanna stop the bullying Mr. Schue? Start with yourself!" Rachel stormed out of the lobby leaving a stunned group behind her. She passed the boys, who were still trying to calm Puck down.

"Berry!" Sam called out. "Where you going?"

"Who cares?" she yelled back. "It's not like anyone likes me anyway right?" Rachel had no clue where she was heading but she kept walking until she saw a pond with a white wooden bench. Sitting down, she let out sobs that she had been suppressing. She hated being the only one no one liked; she hated herself.

Will Schuester watched his best student storm out the door and walk into a strange city by herself. He started to follow until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll go." Santana said. She walked past him to follow Rachel. She rushed to where the guys were still sitting outside by a bush out side the door. "Which way?" When Sam pointed the direction beyond them, she started running. She felt a rush of panic as she jogged down the street. She may not have always been nice to the tiny brunette, but that doesn't mean she wanted Rachel to get mugged, kidnapped or worse. If this was back home, she wouldn't care because everyone knew everyone in Lima, but this was New York. She was a mile from the hotel when she stopped for a breath. Looking around her, she saw a small figure with black hair sitting on a bench by a pond. She instantly recognized the yellow shirt and black skirt. She let out a relieved sigh and walked across the street to where Rachel was sitting. "This seat taken?"

Rachel looked up in utter astonishment. She didn't think anyone would come after her, much less Santana. She gave the Latina a small smile and shook her head "No. You can sit."

Santana took the seat and let out a sigh. She didn't know what to say, so she stayed quiet. She was surprised how much time had lapsed before Rachel opened her mouth.

"Santana?" Rachel asked while still keeping her gaze on the water.

"Yeah?"

"Did you mean what you said? At Sectionals I mean. Does everybody really hate me?" Rachel asked as she wiped a tear from her cheek.

Santana thought about how to answer. Usually, she would just say a smartass remark, but something in her wanted to comfort the petite brunette. "Not all the time."

Rachel turned her eyes to Santana's profile. "What do you mean?"

Santana turned her body to Rachel, "No one likes a bossy person, Yen- Rachel. Sometimes it can be a little much to handle. That doesn't mean we hate you all the time or even _you_." She emphasized so Rachel wouldn't be too hurt.

"Why are you so cruel to me?" Rachel asked. "I don't know what I did to make you hate me so much."

Santana took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I don't hate you Rachel. I envy you."

Rachel blinked in confusion. Santana was jealous of her? "Why?"

"Because you know what you want in life. You're not afraid of being yourself." she was going to stop but she couldn't help but add, "All of yourself."

"What do you mean _all_?" Rachel asked quizzically. "Santana?"

"Forget it ok?"

Rachel pursed her lips together and asked nicely, "Why are you here? I mean, really?"

"I may be a bitch, but I'm not heartless."

"I have dozens of slushie stained shirts that say otherwise."

Santana looked into Rachel's big brown eyes and saw nothing but sincerity and kindness. It was unnerving. Still, Rachel made a good point when she brought up Sectionals last year. She decided to return the favor, only in a different way. "Ok. If I tell you and I found out that you talked, I will make sure you never sing again. Got it?" A reassuring nod from Rachel encouraged her to continue. "It's Brittany."

"You love her don't you?"

Santana nodded and let a tear slip. She didn't realize how much she needed to talk about it until she said it. "Yes. But I don't want anyone to know. At least, not yet."

Rachel smiled at her and took her hand. "I won't say a word." She looked closer at Santana's profile and saw the stress of keeping such important feelings under wraps taking their toll on her. She squeezed the Latina's hand tighter and added, "I'm sorry that you can't act on them- your feelings, I mean. Truly, I am."

"Me too" She said sadly. Feeling the situation became too emotional for her, Santana cleared her throat and changed the subject. "What about you? Who do you love? And please don't say Finn. You know that boy is not worth it."

Rachel swallowed her tears and turned back to the water.

"Is it Puckerman?" Santana asked carefully. When Rachel just dipped her head down, she knew she nailed it. "You wanna talk about it?"

Rachel shook her head and wiped a tear again.

"Come on" Santana encouraged. "You listened to mine, let me listen to yours. I promise I won't say a word."

Rachel looked up at the Latina and smiled. "I just don't want to be another girl to him. You know? I'm not built for that. He'd break my heart if he got the chance."

Santana snorted and replied, "What are you talking about? Puck used to be like that, believe me I know. But after what happened with Quinn, even I can see he's changed. You know he busted St. Asshole's face because he thought you slept with him. And he was pretty pissed about the egging. Still is actually. I don't think someone who just wants a booty call acts that way."

"You really think he likes me?" Rachel asked hopefully.

"I have no idea. I'm just saying that he seems more protective over you than any other girl, including Quinn- and she's his baby mama."

"I can see Brittany being proud of you, you know."

Santana blinked at Rachel, obviously taken back at the random comment. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I can see her influence on you right now. You're a nice person when you want to be. I think that Brittany would be proud." Rachel gave her brightest smile, which made Santana blush.

"Yeah, well don't get used to it." Santana warned.

Rachel let out a little laugh. "Don't worry, I won't."

They sat for a few minutes until Santana stood up and held her hand out. "You ready?" Rachel smiled and took her hand. They walked like that until they came within eyesight of the bush that boys had been sitting by and then released their hands.

When they walked through the doors, everyone but Brittany was sitting on the couches by the far corner. Rachel looked at Santana and then back at Brittany. She walked directly toward the tall blonde and pulled her into a hug. Brittany hugged her back tightly, not knowing why Rachel was doing it, but not really caring why. She loved hugs.

Rachel broke from the embrace and turned to the group. She saw Noah and Quinn were missing, but maybe that was for the best. Shifting her feet, she started her apology. "I'm so sorry." She didn't even get past the sentence before her teammates engulfed her in a group hug.

"Rachel, don't be sorry" Kurt said gently. "We understand how much stress it must be on you dealing with everything so suddenly."

"So with that in mind," Mr. Schue stepped forward. He gave a smile to Rachel and continued, "we're skipping practice to go sightseeing instead."

Everyone looked at Rachel, expecting an argument. Rachel lived for singing, even if it was just practice. Instead of an argument,the brunette just smiled and nodded, "I think that sounds great!"

The group burst into clapping and relieved sighs.

"All right guys, go get Puck and Quinn and we'll get out of here." Mr. Schue said.

Finn nodded and went to find Quinn while Sam was voted to get Puck. Before long, the group was together (Quinn and Rachel being kept apart of course) and heading out to explore New York.

**A/N2: I told you I'd make up for the shortness lol. Hope y'all liked it! Please let me know what you think:) **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: First off, I want to say sorry for not updating earlier. I had a massive case of writer's block and I think I wrote and changed this chapter at least 5 or 6 times. It wasn't until I read the new chapter from Paceismyhero that I got my mojo back. (A big thanks to her for letting me borrow a brilliant idea she had. I highly recommend her story, Needed You Always. It pretty much rocks my socks.)**

**Anyway, this chapter sets up some pretty steamy smut in the next chapter, which I was going to include in this one, but it got to be way too long**. **So let me know what you think because I love me some reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination, Glee and Wicked cd's, and a Puckelberry obsession.**

Chapter 7

The group hadn't even made it past the block before Mr. Schuester was convinced by his students that it would be better if everyone split up to explore, otherwise they wouldn't make it past the streetlight without arguing which way to go.

Will agreed to let them go on their own after Ms. Pillsbury informed him that she had sent Carol Hummel in her place and she was on her way to New York, along with Artie. He couldn't get anymore information from Emma except that a personal emergency had altered her chaperoning plans and somehow, she got Carol to volunteer for the job. Finn seemed okay with it- as okay as a teenager could be with his mom chaperoning on a trip, so Will headed to the airport and the Glee club went to explore the Big Apple.

Puck assumed Kurt would be with Rachel so when he looked up to see Hummel standing next to him asking him to take a walk, he was completely surprised but agreed nonetheless while Rachel, Tina(and by default Mike), Mercedes and Sam had started walking in the direction of Broadway. Brittany and Santana had paired up with Finn and Quinn starting off in the opposite direction of the group.

When Puck and Kurt had arrived at the same pond that Rachel had been at only two hours before, Puck's curiosity got the best of him. "Hey, Hummel. Why didn't you go with Rachel?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

"I can't play for your team, man. Sorry." Puck teased.

Kurt rolled his eyes dramatically. "I was thinking more like Rachel." He watched Puck's face carefully for any sign of anger. As much as he planned for this intervention for him, Kurt was well aware that as much as growth as he had done over the past year, Puck could still be unpredictable. Fortunately, all he got was a quizzical brow and he decided that that was his cue to continue. "I know you like her" He said gently.

"What?" Puck snorted. "Why the hell would I like Berry? She won't even let me touch her boobs."

"I know about last night, Puck. Rachel told me." He saw Puck inhale a deep breath and stare down at the patch grass he was currently destroying with his foot. Kurt sensed this topic was going to take a while so he led the way to one of the white benches. When he saw that Puck was staring at the swans swimming in the pond, he decided to take a different approach. "Did you know swans mate for life?"

Puck glanced quickly at Kurt to see if he was being serious and found that he was. "What the hell are you talking about Hummel?"

Kurt held his hand up in a stop motion, "Just trying to lighten the mood."

The two sat in silence until Puck noticed something about the swans that he thought was strange. "Why are they swimming apart?" he asked. Kurt turned to him with an amused expression. "You know if they're in love and everything." He explained quickly.

Kurt smirked, "They don't always have to be around each other, just as long as they come together in the end."

"They really mate for life?"Puck asked after he had decided to ignore the double meaning of Kurt's words.

"Well, they may mate again if one of them dies, but some species of animals don't mate at all if that happens."

"Like what?" Puck asked. Maybe he should've gone to class more this year so he would know what the hell Hummel was talking about.

"Well, wolves do for the most part and the Anglerfish of course."

"Anglerfish?" He had never heard of an Anglerfish before. Was that even in a science book?

Kurt nodded and explained, "Anglerfish are ugly but they're very romantic. The male can actually detect the scent trail of a female and then follows it until he finds his mate. After he bites the female, their skin fuses together and they become one, in a sense."

Puck wrinkled his nose. "That's gotta hurt."

Kurt chuckled and looked at over the pond. It was a beautiful day; the air was lively with activity and the sun was shining brightly, illuminating the pond's ripples.

"What about wolves?" Puck asked abruptly.

"What?"

"Do they mate for life?" Puck hoped they did because wolves were his favorite animal. They were the badasses of the dog world.

Kurt thought a moment before answering, "Yes." He didn't want to tell Puck that wolves dump their mates if they're kicked out or can't breed. He would never know the difference.

"Cool" Puck nodded. "So uh, what did Berry say about what happened?"

_Finally!_ Kurt thought. "Only that you kissed her and that she kissed you back."

"Did she say she liked it?" Puck couldn't believe how desperate he must sound right now.

"Why do you care? You said you didn't like her."

Puck shrugged his shoulders, "I lied" he stated carelessly.

"She nearly had a panic attack at the thought of what Finn might say when he found out. Other than that, I think she liked it."

Puck's face formed into a frown when Kurt mentioned Finn. "You think she slept with St. Ass?"

"How can you think that? Don't you know Rachel at all? Besides, I'm pretty sure that she doesn't have any feelings left for Jesse."

"Then why did she spend the night in his room?" Puck challenged.

Kurt gave an exasperated expression to Puck, "If you want to know, why don't you ask her?"

"I tried to talk to her, but all she ever does is run away. It pisses me off. She didn't do that with Finnessa or with St. Ass. She practically jumped into their arms but whenever I do something she bolts. And then she stays in Jesse's room? Why didn't she stay with me?"

"Well, you do share a room with Sam."

"I would've kicked him out" Puck said in a flippant tone. He could feel himself becoming angry at her. "I just understand why she wants these douche bags that treat her like shit. I never did that when we dated. I even took a slushie in the face for her and Finn wouldn't even take one for Quinn, much less Rachel."

"Why did you join the Glee club? And don't say for Rachel because we both know you were the one who slushied her most."

Puck hung is head and went back to staring at the grass beneath his feet, "Quinn."

"Because you loved her?"

"Because I _thought_ I loved her. Quinn is beautiful but that's about it. She's got nothing to set her apart from every other girl I've known, except Beth. But after we gave her up, there was nothing between us anymore."

"And Rachel?"

Puck shifted in his seat and stared at the swans that were side by side now. He wasn't sure why he blurted it out, but he thought it might've had something to do with how perfect those swans looked- peaceful and content with each other no matter what was going on around them. He made a mental note never to tell anyone that. "I love her."

Kurt gasped and gave a bright smile that had Puck looking around to make sure no other New Directions members were near by. "Aw! That's so sweet! Why haven't you told her?"

"Dude, until thirty seconds ago, I wasn't even able to admit to myself, much less anyone else" Puck said in a strained voice when Kurt was still giving his show choir smile. "If you don't wipe that fucking smile off your face in two seconds, I'm gonna do it for you Hummel."

Kurt sensed how serious Puck was so he dropped it down to a smirk but he couldn't help the squeal that escaped his lips. "I'm sorry but I wasn't expecting to hear that, not now anyway. You need to tell her."

"She said I disgust her because of what I did on the plane. She made that clear last night."

Kurt was completely lost. "What happened on the plane?" Puck admitted what he did and after he spilled the beans about what nearly happened in the hotel room (details excluded), Kurt couldn't blame Rachel for being hesitant. "Wait, is that why she suddenly got sick on the plane?" Puck nodded in reply and Kurt blew out a breath. "Wow. You literally made Rachel sick to her stomach. That's quite an accomplishment; usually when people say that, they don't actually become sick."

"Thanks for the obvious."

Kurt shook his head to get the image out of his brain. "What's the one thing Rachel loves more than anything?"

"I don't know. A Jew?"

Kurt stared at Puck like he had grown three heads, "Really?"

"I call her my Hot Jewish American Princess." Puck retorted. "What? She didn't seem to mind."

"While I agree that Rachel probably likes that nickname, being Jewish is not what she loves most" Kurt stared at Puck, hoping that a miracle would happen and some telepathy would happen between them so he wouldn't have to say the most obvious thing ever. Puck's blank expression however, was begging for some help. "Singing, Puck. Rachel loves to sing."

Puck had never felt more stupid in his life than at that moment. "What's your point Hummel?" he asked curtly. Why did Kurt always say things in a confusing way?

"My point is that Rachel reacts best when things are sung to her. Remember when you serenaded her with Sweet Caroline? That's what you need to do. Make her see that you're not a second choice anymore. Tell her what you love about her. Girls love that."

"I'm not good at that stuff. It just sounds stupid when I say it." Puck said with a frown. It's not that he didn't try to sound sweet; it just wasn't in his nature.

"The trick is to be sincere but still be yourself while saying it. And you don't have to tell her she's perfect because even she knows she's not. If all else fails, tell her you love her. Speaking of, I have to ask: why _do_ you love her?"

Puck turned his head back toward the pond and replied, "I have no fucking clue. But I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life trying to figure it out." He turned his gaze back to Kurt and saw him smiling sweetly. "What?"

Kurt let out a small sigh, as though he were waking from a dream. "I think you just found what to say to her."

Puck gave a chuckle as he and Kurt stood to continue their walk. "Oh, damn. I forgot my jacket." As he jogged back to the bench, he looked up and saw the swans making a heart with their necks. He smiled a little and ran back to where Kurt was waiting for him at the light. "So, where we going?"

Kurt stopped texting on his phone long enough to answer, "I thought we'd go to Broadway, catch up with Sam and the rest of the group."

"Sounds good. How far away is that?"

"Around 20 minutes or so if we walk."

"Walk? Why don't we just take a cab?"

"Are you not seeing the traffic right now? It'll be faster just to walk."

Puck sighed heavily. He didn't mind walking that far, but that was too much time allotted in case Kurt decided to bring up Rachel again. They walked so fast that Puck thought he probably burned off all of last week's meals. "Are we almost there?" Just as Puck asked, they turned the corner and spotted Sam's blonde hair followed by Mercedes taking a picture of Rachel in front of the Wicked sign. Puck couldn't help but grin at how cute Rachel was when she was excited.

"Hi guys!" Rachel beamed. "We're just taking turns under the signs. Sam, come take a picture with me?" she asked while dragging Sam to his designated spot. He grabbed Rachel's waist and brought her close to his body as she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him down to her face.

Puck felt a sting of jealousy when he saw Sam that close to Rachel. Mercedes had taken the picture and Rachel was examining it, making sure that she looked her best.

"Noah!"

Puck's attention focused back on the petite brunette who had gone back to her standing place. "Yes, my hot Jewish American Princess?" he said smoothly as he made his way to the spot next to her.

She laughed and gave a blinding smile as he shifted into postition. "I want you to smile like you mean it" she teased.

"Are you happy to be here Berry?" he joked while looking at her.

Rachel turned her big brown eyes to look into Noah's. "I'm always happy when you're around, Noah."

Puck couldn't help himself. She was so close. He bent his head down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Just when he thought of deeping it, he heard a click. Puck stepped back and looked at Rachel, who had a stunned expression on her face. He heard someone clear their throat but couldn't bring himself to care.

Kurt decided this was the perfect time to spring his trap. The entire time he and Puck had been walking, he was texting Mercedes his plan. Through her, the rest of the group planned to bring Rachel and Puck together, and then at the perfect moment, leave them just by themselves. He knew it was kind of a lame plan but if these two weren't going to create moments for themselves, he would just have to do it for them. "Oh! I totally forgot" Kurt gasped. "I have to call my dad."

Suddenly, everyone had something they needed to do or something they forgot. Mercedes tried to give Rachel's camera back, but she and Puck were in another world so she gently wiggled her hand into the diva's bag and zipped it. "Later." She whispered as the others ran down the street.

Puck and Rachel hadn't even noticed anyone was gone until some asshole ran into Rachel, knocking her into Puck and breaking their concentration.

"I-I'm so sorry, that guy ran into me." Rachel said as she readjusted her bag on her shoulder. "Where'd everybody go?" she cried. "They left us!"

"They didn't leave us" Puck stated. "It was a setup." He was helping Rachel with her bag by dragging it off and holding it since it refused to stay on her shoulder. She had a perplexed look on her face so he said it in simpler terms, something he never thought he'd have to do with Rachel Berry. "They did it on purpose."

Rachel was confused for a moment until the light bulb went off. She had wondered why Kurt wanted to go off with Puck and now she knew. Still, as she looked at Noah holding her bag- without being asked- and an eager smile, she couldn't resist the warm feeling in her stomach that started to grow. She saw him hold out his arm for her and took it without hesitation.

"Where you wanna go babe? New York is waiting for you."

Rachel couldn't decide where to go. There were so many places she wanted to see that it would've been impossible to get to them all. She tried to think, but for once in her life her mind had drawn a blank. "I don't know."

Puck gave her a questioning look. "You mean Rachel Berry doesn't know what she wants to do in New York City? I think hell just froze over."

"Don't be silly. I just can't think of what to do first."

"We're not stalking anyone Berry so if that's something on your list you can forget it." Puck teased.

Rachel rolled her eyes and pulled out a piece of paper. Looking it over, she crossed out a line gloomily. "So much for #187" she said in a depressed voice. "Well, where do you want to go? I'm sure you have something you want to see" Rachel offered.

Puck did have a plan; something he had come up with during his talk with Kurt. "How bout the zoo?"

"The zoo?" Rachel snorted. She had no idea he even knew what a zoo was.

"Yeah, I hear they're pretty popular and I've never been to one. If you don't want to, I can think of something else." He offered suggestively.

Rachel couldn't help but smile at him. He was just too damn sexy for his own good. "No, I think the zoo sounds great."

After a while, Rachel noticed that somewhere between them getting lost and finding their way again, Puck was holding her hand and her fingers were interlaced with his. He was talking to some hot dog man in the middle of the sidewalk about directions, but all she could focus on was how well her hand fit in his. She loved the feel of his calluses where he would strum his guitar, which caused her train of thought to veer toward the memory of him singing Sweet Caroline. That had been the first time a guy had sung to her and it was a memory she cherished even more because it was Noah. She wasn't sure why she was holding back with him and it was starting to annoy her. She pictured herself as one of those women in chick flicks that are in love with a guy who's a player and spends the whole movie wanting him to see that she really is the one. Suddenly, she saw a hand waving in her face and it made her snap out of her reverie. "Huh?" she asked.

"I asked if you were okay. You've been looking spacey for the past four blocks." Puck said in an anxious voice.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking. How long till we get there?"

"Well, look up."

Rachel glanced up over Noah's head and saw the entrance sign. "Oh" She giggled. "Where do you want to go first?"

Puck shrugged his shoulders and started walking with Rachel in tow. "I don't care. Why don't we just start from the beginning?"

"It'll take us forever Noah. This is a big zoo."

"Well some things are worth taking a long time, Berry. I would think you of all people would know that."

Rachel didn't know how take his words. She thought she might be overanalyzing but his tone suggested otherwise. Was he talking about them or something else? "Well, um ok then, let's go."

They walked past all the exhibits without much excitement except the Aquatic exhibit. Puck started a heated debate with a random worker about how they needed Angler fish for some reason. It wasn't until Rachel had faked being sick that he finally stopped arguing. After a futile attempt to get Noah to talk about what the hell had just gone down in the middle of a fish tunnel, Rachel was no longer in a happy mood.

They had wandered around the rest of the exhibit in silence till they arrived at the colder part of the zoo. Coming across the penguin exhibit, Puck saw Rachel's face light up with happiness. It was a nice reprieve from the frown she had been wearing since the argument he had started with the zoo worker. In his defense, he didn't mean to start a debate, but he got frustrated when the worker wouldn't explain to him why they don't have that species of fish. His whole plan was resting on those fish; he was gonna tell Rachel that she's his Angler… or not- he couldn't make up his mind if it was a compliment or an insult to tell her that she's a fish.

"They're so beautiful!" Rachel gasped. She brought her hand up to the glass and watched as the penguins dove in and out of the water.

Puck leaned on the glass and watched Rachel be mesmerized by the birds, or fish, or whatever the hell they were. As he watched her smile widen each time a penguin did a trick, he was captivated by her natural beauty as the sunlight and water illuminated her face. He knew he was thinking like a chick, but no one would know right?

Rachel turned her head to see that Noah was staring at her with a strange look in his eyes. "What?" she asked, suddenly self conscious.

He gave her a small smirk, "Nothing. You're just beautiful, that's all." He was relieved to see a blush engulf her cheeks and it made him smile even more.

Rachel tried to hide her blush but knew she failed when she saw his grin widen into one of his cocky smiles. "Thank you, Noah" she managed to reply. They stood there for a moment until Rachel turned her attention back to the penguins.

Puck strolled over to the information tablet that was standing a few feet away when Rachel wasn't looking. He read that penguins mate for life and can recognize their mates by the sound of their voice. _Hm_, he thought. _Calling her a penguin might be more of a compliment than calling her a fish;_ _she does seem to like penguins better._ He glanced up to see his should be girlfriend still trying to coax the fish-birds into doing a trick. He tried so hard not to laugh at her contorted expressions but when she stomped her foot, he couldn't help the snicker that escaped.

At first, Rachel hoped her glare would shut him up but it seemed it had the opposite effect. He came over and wrapped his arm around her neck and dragged her into a hug. She relaxed instantly and turned her glare toward the penguins instead. "Stupid penguins" she stated bitterly.

Puck laughed even harder, kissed her forehead and let her go from the embrace. "Well let's leave before you critique them on their manners" he teased. He held his hand out and she slid hers in, lacing their fingers again. They hadn't even gotten to the end of the tunnel before Puck got a text from Satan saying that Mr. Schuester needed them back at the hotel immediately. "Babe, we gotta cut this short."

"Yeah, I got the text. Let's grab a cab." Rachel didn't want to admit it, but she was worried. How could she not be when every time New Directions performed, something had to go wrong? She had a disgusted thought cross her mind but quickly removed it; it wasn't even plausible. No. Definitely not.

It took them almost an hour to get back to the hotel and by the looks they received, everyone had been waiting for them.

"Artie!" Rachel exclaimed as she reached down for a hug. As much as she was excited to see him, her curiosity had reached a fever pitch. "What's wrong?" Rachel asked.

Will hung his head and announced, "Finn is in the hospital."

There was a collective gasp in the group.

"What happened?" Kurt asked worriedly.

"He ate some bad sushi" Quinn stated in a bored voice. "It wasn't even anything important, just some food poisoning."

Puck had to hold Kurt's arm to stop him from attacking Quinn. Not that he was a threat or anything but a fight, even a verbal one, was the last thing they needed. Fortunately, Rachel had no problem taking over.

"Did you really just say food poisoning was no big deal? And why aren't you with him?" Rachel asked with a genuinely curious expression. Actually, everyone was looking at Quinn like that.

Quinn glared at Rachel and responded with a sneer, "He's being released in like an hour. He just needed some antibiotics. And his mom is with him."

Sensing a fight, Will stepped in and told everyone, "While we can be relieved that Finn is being released, that means chances are he won't be able to perform the duet. So, we need to have an audition with the guys to see who sounds best with Rachel."

"Puck and Rachel sound great, why don't you just pick him?" Mercedes asked.

"While I agree that they sound amazing, we haven't heard Sam or Artie sing with her" Will could see the questions forming on their faces. "Guys," he said hastily. "We don't have time to discuss this. We need to get moving if we really want to be ready. We have to get to the theater now." He was slowly pushing the large group out the doors and getting cabs for the students.

When they had finally arrived, Will wasted no time getting right into the auditions.

Artie and Rachel started in from the back of the theater and sang As Long As Your Mine and before they even got to the chorus, they knew it wasn't going to work but to make sure they ran through the whole song. By the end, everyone was cringing, including Rachel and Artie.

Mr. Schuester clapped his hands together and called Sam up. Again, they started at the back of theater and ran through it. This time, everyone -including Rachel and Sam- were surprised at how well they sounded. Their chemistry was also better but there was still something missing.

Finally, it was Puck's turn. He thought that he had it in the bag but when he heard Sam and Rachel, a rush of doubt came over him. But their chemistry was more friendship than lovers and it seemed that he was the only one who realized that was the issue. He went to his place at the back of the theater and saw Rachel standing opposite him, smoothing her skirt-which meant that she was nervous.

Rachel looked over to where Puck was and relaxed at just the thought of singing with him. When she heard the music, she could feel the lyrics and their meaning and it made the passion in her voice that much stronger.

Puck wasn't sure what came over him, but when he heard his cue, his voice seemed to disconnect with his body. Looking at Rachel while singing the lyrics, he knew that this song was saying everything he couldn't.

Their voices harmonized perfectly and the two singers completely forgot there was people watching them. They didn't see Mr. Schuester, Brad the piano player, or even the rest of the Glee club. Rachel and Puck only saw each other and only heard the words they were both so desperate to say. When the song ended, they were both on stage, only a breath away from each other's faces. The two teens barely registered Will's voice and the applause coming from their audience.

"Wow!" Mr. Schuester exclaimed. "That was amazing guys! Puck, where have been?"

"I guess I just needed the right partner" he smirked, looking at Rachel.

"Well, whatever it was, I'm glad it showed up. I think we can all say that you two are perfect for this duet. Congratulations, Puck. Rachel, you think can work with Puckerman?"

Rachel gave a teasing smile to Puck, "I think I can handle it."

"Great, now that Stubbles and Puck are paired up, can we practice the rest of the routine?" Santana asked impatiently. Though it sounded like she was disgusted with what just happened, she was actually happy to see some progress being made in the romance department, if not for herself, then for the male version of her.

"Yes," Will replied while getting the sheet music out from his bag. "Places! From the top!"

The group started to find their positions off stage while Rachel and Puck made their way back to the theater again. After the last notes rang from their lips, the group started in on their original song and started their dance routine and then Rachel and Kurt stepped forward to do their duet accompanied by the rest of New Directions in the background. The song was short but powerful and was a perfect ending to the theme they were required to have, which Rachel had suggested a different take off the La Boheme theme: Love, Beauty, Truth and Freedom. They ended up dropping the last three but kept Love, and replaced them with Hope and Friendship.

It had been four hours since they started practice and the entire group except Kurt and Rachel were exhausted. Puck hadn't realized how much work it was to sing a duet with Rachel in a competition. Of course, he'd gotten a taste when they worked together on her Run, Joey, Run video and Need You Now but this- this was different. Rachel had always been a perfectionist and even though that part of her annoyed him to no end, he still loved her for it but this time she was like a robot; she was completely obsessed with getting everything perfect. They've must done the song about forty times over the past few hours, even if they didn't get through it all the way for one reason or another. Around the fifth hour, Puck had decided that Finn deserved a medal for what he had to put up with all those times he and Rachel had sung.

"Ok, Puck I want you to try and come out a little slower. Maybe on the second to last note, because you're part isn't more than a second after hers" Mr. Schuester said, gesturing to Rachel. "So, let's start from the top."

Puck heard groans all the way from where the others were waiting and knew he had to say something. Not only was his voice getting tired, but he was getting really lightheaded from not eating. "Mr. Schue?" he asked as he raised his hand.

"Yes, Puck?"

"Look, not that I don't love singing the same lines over and over again, but I'm fixing to pass out from hunger over here and I'm pretty sure everyone else feels the same way."

"I don't" Rachel stated cheerily.

Puck gave her an exasperated look. "Not all of us are robots Berry." He saw her face form a frown. He felt guilty the moment he said it.

"We have to get everything right Noah. If we make one mistake, we lose this competition. We may not even make it past the semi-finals" Rachel defended.

"Rachel, Puck's right. We've been here since two thirty and it's now seven. We need a break. Besides, we aren't the only ones here to practice. Another group is coming in thirty minutes anyway." Will walked down the long aisle and announced that they were through with practice. The auditorium erupted with applause from everyone except Rachel, who was looking depressed at the thought of no more practice.

The group made their way back to the hotel and split into groups for dinner. Mr. Schuester had informed them that room service was already paid for so they could order anything on the menu. Rachel was on the first floor, on the way to Mercedes' room to eat with her and Kurt when Puck stopped her on the way to the elevator.

"Noah. What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be eating with Sam and them?"

"Nah. I'd rather eat with you, if that's ok."

"I was just on my way to Mercedes' room. She and Kurt are waiting for me, but you're more than welcome to join us."

Rachel's comment made Puck chuckle. "You know, for someone who uses big words and shit, you sure can be dense." The elevator dinged open and he escorted her inside and pressed the 3rd floor button.

"Don't use words you don't know, Noah. It might hurt the half percent of your brain that you use" Rachel teased as she settled against the wall of the elevator.

Puck laughed and grabbed her waist, pulling her closer to him. He felt her relax against his side and he couldn't help the small smile that spread across his lips. "They're not waiting for you so don't worry."

Rachel knit her brows together in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"I told them I wanted to eat with you so they gave me their permission" Puck explained with a sigh.

The elevator arrived on Rachel's floor and Puck took her hand in his, leading them to her room. When they arrived at her door, he withdrew a key from his jacket pocket and slid into the card slot. He saw Rachel's scolding expression so he explained, "Kurt let me have his. He said you told him you lost yours." That seemed to pacify her curiosity as he guided the small brunette into the room with his hand on her back and flipped on the light. He had barely heard Rachel gasp when he saw what she was looking at. "What the fuck?"

**A/N2: I know there hasn't been a lot of Shelby but I promise, she's going to get lots of- um...bonding time with Rachel and Puck in the next chapter:)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm so incredibly grateful for everyone who's alerted and favorited and reviewed. It makes the story worth continuing so thank you. For the reviews, I'm especially thankful; y'all really let me know what you think and so far, that's been good. Knowing that y'all like the story enough to write something really pushes me to write better and to top the last chapter. For this one, I'm going to beg for reviews- good or bad, because this chapter is what changes the course of the story. So if you're reading this chapter, just click on the review thingy at the top and pretty please, drop me a comment:)**

Chapter 8

"What the fuck?" Puck exclaimed. He couldn't believe what he was seeing; Kurt and Rachel's entire room had been ransacked, their clothes were everywhere and even the mattresses were off their box springs. The curtains were shredded and the pictures on the wall were broken, leaving glass everywhere. It looked as though someone unleashed a pack of rabid dogs that were high on crack. He looked over at Rachel and saw a mix of emotions on her face: fear being the prominent one with confusion in a close second. He pulled her into a hug and could feel her shaking.

When they both heard a noise in the bathroom, Rachel screamed like someone had lit her on fire and instantly grabbed Noah's shirt. He covered her mouth with his hand and after he saw the fear leave her eyes, he put his finger to his lips to keep her silent. Seeing her nod, he slowly made his way into the room on his left.

Puck was in complete shock. Only a few pieces of mirror remained in tact, the towels were ripped into multiple pieces and even the tile was broken. Puck motioned for Rachel to stay where she was as he searched every inch of the ridiculously large bathroom. He held up the shampoo bottle that kept rolling into the edge of the bathtub. "It's what made the noise."

"Oh my God, oh my God" Rachel breathed. The reality of what could've happened had she or Kurt been in the room caused her to hyperventilate, and that made Puck nervous. She hugged her body stiffly and she could feel tears forming around her eyelids.

Puck brought Rachel into a tight hug, hoping that would relax them both, which it did. Rachel's body leaned into Noah's and her breathing had started to even out. "We need to call Mr. Schue and Kurt."

While Puck called Mr. Schuester, Rachel walked around the room. She tried her best to see if anything had been taken but except for her clothes being torn and tossed around everywhere, nothing seemed taken. Then she saw her purse and iPod charger still on the dresser. _Hm, that's strange_ She thought.

"Ok, Mr. Schue and Kurt are on their way" Puck said, hanging up the phone. He walked to Rachel and suggested they wait outside.

"They didn't take my purse," Rachel noted quietly. They had moved to the center of the room while Rachel was searched for something. Apparently, she found what she was looking for since she reached down into a pile of glass and held up something square-ish. She handed it to Noah and stated, "My iPod."

When Kurt arrived, he was horror-struck and Will was equally so as they inched their way into the room. Mr. Schuester had already called up hotel security and soon, there were multiple security guards as well as some people who had heard Rachel scream earlier.

Rachel and Kurt were bombarded with questions from security about their keycards, if there was anything missing that they could see, etc. Rachel gave Kurt a quick, nervous glance when they were asked about their keycards. She had told him earlier that she had lost it, but to cover her tracks, she put it on the missing items list along with their book bags.

While Rachel and Kurt had been talking to hotel security, Will and Carol had been talking about where they could put the two teens. Kurt was set to share a room with Artie anyway but Rachel was the odd girl out. When it was suggested that perhaps Rachel could room with one of the girls and let Carol have her own room, the hotel manager informed them that they had no vacancies. Kurt and Artie had to double up in other rooms.

"Mr. Schue? I don't feel comfortable being by myself." Rachel said uneasily. She had only caught bits of the conversation, but the just the idea of being alone made a shiver go down her spine.

"Well, that's not an option anyway, Rachel" Mr. Schue informed. "There are no more rooms available."

Suddenly a familiar but unwelcome voice offered a suggestion. "She can stay with me. I have a room to myself."

Everyone turned their heads toward Jesse St. James and produced a glare. Puck curled his fist so forcefully he thought he might've broken through the skin. His jaw was also clenched tightly and it was actually kinda painful but he had no choice. He was heavily reprimanded for earlier when he had busted St. Asshole's face and if it happened again, he could get the whole team expelled from the competition. Jesse was looking at him over Rachel's shoulder with a smug smile on his stupid face. Puck squeezed his fists even harder to the point where blood had started to run down his arm. He turned his back and walked to the wall so he could lean on it. He still hadn't eaten and was beginning to feel light headed but there was no way he was going to show any weakness around Jesse. It was already hard enough to not rip his face off.

"Thank you for the offer Jesse, but no. I would prefer to stay with Noah." Rachel announced. She looked over at Noah and could see the anger in his face as he stared Jesse down. She thought his jealousy was totally barbaric- and sexy. But she could tell that neither man was paying attention to the conversation going on in between them.

"Absolutely not Rachel" Will replied quickly. "That would be inappropriate."

"More inappropriate than having a student injured or possibly murdered by someone who is clearly a psychopath? I feel the safest with Noah. And Sam can stay too if that's what you're concerned about" Rachel reasoned.

"That would make it worse, Rachel."

"Who cares what anyone thinks?" Rachel screeched. "Do you realize that if I or Kurt had been in that room when this happened, we could be dead? I'm not taking that chance again and the only place I know is safe is with Noah!"

"Rachel, calm down."

"If it's permission you want Mr. Schue, I'll call my dads and they'll agree. I promise." Rachel pleaded.

Will hung his head and looked at Carol. They had a quiet conversation and finally Mr. Schuester agreed that if Rachel's fathers approved, Rachel could stay with Noah.

As Rachel dialed her daddy's number, she saw Jesse walk past her and slip into his room. After explaining what happened to her father, she handed the phone to Will. All anyone heard for five minutes was an "uh huh" and "of course". Finally, he handed the phone back to Rachel, who got a stern lecture from her dad about the expectations of their little girl. After assuring her fathers that nothing would happen, she hung up the phone and beamed at Noah, who was still in his own world. Despite Mr. Schuester's reservations about the new room arrangement, he bid goodnight to Rachel and Noah and headed back to his room on the first level.

Kurt kissed Rachel on the cheek and the two shared a short conversation about the events of the evening until Kurt decided that Mercedes was probably waiting for him still and he simply had to tell her everything. Rachel gave him a hug and watched as he joined Mr. Schue and Carol in the elevator. She then walked over to wall that Puck was leaning on and brought her hand to his forearm, trying to wake him from his stupor. "Noah? Are you all right?"

Puck heard her Rachel's voice and snapped his head up to look at her. She looked tired but excited. Clearly, he missed something important that happened in the past five minutes. "Yeah. Are you?" Rachel smiled cheerfully at him and informed him of the different room arrangement. "What about Sam?" Not that he really cared. The girl of his dreams was going to be spending the night in his room- and he didn't even do anything to get her there!

"Mrs. Hummel said that she'll talk to him about rooming with Finn and Mike. Looks like we get the room to ourse- oh my God! Noah! What happened to your hands?" Rachel grasped the tops of his hands and turned them over so she could look at the wounds.

"I didn't want to punch Jesse's face again." Puck expected Rachel to scold him for getting so angry, but instead she grabbed his head and brought it down to kiss him. It was a quick, but passionate and after she pulled away, she disappeared into the room, leaving Puck out in the hallway.

Rachel walked back to the room, and wet a piece of shredded towel. When she turned around after wringing the excess water out, Puck had moved from his spot across the hallway and was leaning against the doorframe, watching her. She carefully cleaned off his hands and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw he had only cut slightly into the skin.

"What were you saying before about the room?" he asked with a small smile. He loved kissing Rachel and loved it even more when she initiated it.

"Oh, just that we'll have the room to ourselves" She said with a mischievous smile.

"Well, what the hell are we waiting for? Let's go." He said, bouncing off the wall.

Rachel chuckled and went to get a change of clothes until she remembered that it would take her forever to look through the mess. "Oh man!" she groaned. "I have no pajamas."

"That's cool. Just wear one of my shirts." His suggestion brought a smile to her face, and naughty thought to his brain. He was going to have to be careful about his dreams tonight. She took his hand and started walking toward the elevator. Puck could tell she was still scared but not as much as she was before, or maybe that was excitement? He couldn't tell for sure.

They stepped into the empty elevator and Puck hit the 3rd floor button.

Rachel loved the idea of sleeping in Noah's shirt…and his bed, but that wasn't going to happen…immediately. They should probably eat first right? _God, what's happening to me?_ She thought. It was like the adrenaline of being frightened was pushing her desires to the forefront of her mind and body. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to go all the way-at least tonight- but she definitely wanted Noah. _And maybe a little bit of the Puckzilla_ she thought. _But no sex!_ Her conscious argued. There was definitely a devil and angel on her shoulder going on at the moment. _Ok, maybe a little_ the little devil countered. _But you promised dad and daddy you wouldn't! You don't want to disappoint them_ the little angel reasoned.

Rachel could see Puck out of the corner of her eye and she was flooded with a sense of desire. She launched herself at him and felt him move one of his hands to her head and grasp her hair, tugging on it slightly while the other hand rested on her back. She growled out of pure lust and brought her hands under his shirt, letting her fingertips graze over his chiseled abs. She loved that he took time to take care of his body and she let her hands roam over his stomach and around his back to show her appreciation. She could feel her panties soaking and prayed that he wouldn't be grossed out.

Puck wondered if he really heard her growl until she snaked her hands under his shirt. And that pretty much confirmed what he heard. Dude, he got Rachel Berry TO FUCKING GROWL. That made his already large erection that much harder. He brought his hand down from where it was resting on her lower back and slid it under her skirt. She opened her legs slightly to allow his hand access and he smiled when he felt her dripping wet. He pulled his head back to face her and saw her nervousness in her eyes. "Are you ok?"

Rachel felt her cheeks turn bright red at the question while his hand was rubbing her in the right spot. She nodded slightly but answered, "I'm kind of embarrassed."

"Why?" he asked in curious tone.

Just when Rachel thought that her blush couldn't be brighter, she was proven wrong. Her entire body felt on fire and she thought her underwear was going to burst into flames. "Because my underwear's wet." She said quietly. At that moment, Rachel wouldn't have minded dropping dead from pure embarrassment.

Puck chuckled and kissed her gently. "That's a good thing babe. I'd be worried if they weren't." Just then the elevator opened and there was someone waiting outside.

Puck cleared his throat and escorted Rachel out. They ran down the hall quietly and Rachel giggled when Puck couldn't get the door open. She took the key from him and opened it on the first try.

She ran in and jumped on the bed, making her small body bounce high. When she landed, she saw Puck by the door, watching her. "What are you doing all the way over there?" she said in a husky voice. She gave him a naughty smile and motioned her finger in a come hither manner.

Puck didn't need to be told twice, especially when she was looking at him like_ that_. He pulled his shirt over his head as he walked smoothly over to the bed. In one swift motion, he was on top of her, letting her touch his body. She locked her brown eyes to his and bit her lip. He could see she wanted more so he kissed her hard and lifted her up so that her legs wrapped around his waist. One hand under her butt supported her position while the other unhooked her bra. Puck dragged her bra down under her shirt and threw it across the room. He moved his hand around to cup her breast and felt her nipple harden instantly.

Rachel felt him squeezing her boob and was surprised that it turned her on as much as it did. She was lowered back onto the bed gently and could feel his need to touch her, but he was clearly holding back in case it wasn't what she wanted. She looked deep into his hazel eyes and whispered, "Touch me, Noah."

Those words were what Puck had wanted to hear for as long as he could remember knowing Rachel. He hooked one finger under the hem of her shirt on each side and pulled it up at an agonizing pace. When the shirt had reached just below her boobs, Puck found that he couldn't pull it off due to it being caught underneath her breasts. The sight made Puck's breath hitch with impatience. He ripped the tank top over her head and watched as her breasts sprang free. He stared in amazement at seeing them all over again; it felt like years since last night had happened.

Rachel's eyes were closed and her head was pushing further into the mattress when she felt nothing but air above her. When she opened her eyes, she found Puck staring at her chest. She suddenly felt very self conscious. Did they really look that bad? She moved to cross her arms when with one quick motion, Puck was back on top of her, holding her arms above her head with one hand.

"Don't move" he commanded. Rachel obeyed and laid her head back down but still watched him nervously. "You're so fucking beautiful, Rachel." He said roughly. A smile spread across her face and he felt her hips roll into his erection, which was straining against his pants.

While Puck was moving his free hand over her chest and stomach, Rachel's little angel and demon was still arguing over how far she should go. She was on the verge of agreeing with the angel when Puck lowered his mouth to her chest and sucked on a nipple. _Devil wins!_ Rachel whimpered and spread her legs to rest her feet on the mattress. The access made sure that Puck's bulging erection was rubbing over her hot spot.

Puck felt Rachel's legs shift to where he was rubbing his hard core erection over her clit. He didn't want her to come just yet so used his midsection to hold his lower half up to prolong the foreplay. As much as he was turned on, this moment was for Rachel. He knew she was jealous of other girls who had experience because every time Santana rubbed it in that she and Puck had sex, Rachel would lose a little sparkle in her eyes. He wanted to show Rachel that even though she was a virgin, that didn't mean she was below anyone, least of all Satan. He let go of her breast and moved his way down to her stomach. He pulled back to sit on his knees and lifted Rachel's hips to unzip her skirt.

Rachel knew what he was going for as her skirt slid down her legs and landed somewhere. Even though she was nervous, she was so intoxicated by Noah that her fears were going away with each passing moment. Suddenly, she felt his hands literally rip her panties in two and sat up on her elbows. She gave him a confused look as he held his the two pieces in his hand.

"I got…impatient" he said anxiously. He wasn't sure how she would feel now that she was going to be without underwear tomorrow. He was relieved when she started laughing instead of yelling at him. He tried to hold back a laugh but it slowly escaped him bit by bit and before both of them knew it, they were laughing so hard tears had started to form.

Rachel appreciated the break in tension. She hadn't realized that a laugh was exactly what she needed in order to relax. "If you're this nervous with me, how on earth did you get the reputation you have?" she chuckled.

"Well, I've never had a girl that made me nervous before" Puck admitted.

"You're joking, right?" Rachel asked with raised eyebrows. There's no way she made him nervous. She was just Rachel Berry; but the way he was looking at her, made her feel like she was so much more than that. She was met with a smirk and head shake as Noah rolled the pieces of her underwear into a ball and tossed it somewhere in the room. "That's impossible."

"Hey, Rachel?"

"Yeah?"

Puck shifted his body back into the position he was in and placed her legs over his shoulders. He glanced up to see her big eyes staring at him. "Do me a favor?" he said, bending his head down to lick between her folds. He heard Rachel gasp sharply and he lifted his eyes back to hers and grinned arrogantly. "Unless you're screaming my name or telling me to do something to make you come harder, I want you to be quiet." He saw her open her mouth in protest so he quickly dipped his head back down and licked slower than before.

Rachel's complaint died before it even reached her lips. She had never felt anything so…so…naughty. Her last coherent thought was why on earth she waited so long to do this with him. After that crossed her mind, she felt his tongue slide deeper into her core and she swore she could see stars. She didn't know if she was making noises, but even if she was, she didn't care and chances were, Noah didn't either.

Puck had a feeling Rachel would be vocal during sexual moments, and he wasn't disappointed. The firmer his tongue got the more she moaned his name. At first, she had said it so quietly that he wasn't sure he heard it all but then he lightly bit where bundle of nerves were aching for attention. She moaned his name so loudly that Puck was certain that the people next door could hear. When she was gripping the bedspread for support, Puck removed his tongue and inserted a finger straight into her core.

Rachel was near tears because she was so turned on. Puck was going slow and at first, she was grateful for the sluggish pace because she needed to time adjust to the feeling. Now, however it was pure agony. When he pushed his finger in, her breath caught in her throat and she nearly choked on the feeling overwhelming her. "More" she breathed.

"What was that Princess? I didn't hear you." Puck teased as he slid another finger in. He was amazed at how tight she was. In fact, Rachel was tighter than any other girl he'd done this too.

"More!" She demanded. Puck obeyed her command and curled his fingers. Rachel half screamed from pleasure as Puck slid his fingers in and out of her.

Puck let a smile creep across his face as he watched Rachel writhe under his touch. He put his mouth to her clit and sucked hard. He felt her muscles start to tighten; making him wish it was his cock in her instead of his fingers. But he knew that she was putting a lot of trust in him to let him go this far with her. He could see her face scrunch in ecstasy and it made the throbbing in his dick that much more prominent. He could also see her trying with all her might to hold on to her control. "Babe, come for me." He cooed.

Rachel could barely register what Puck was saying. She felt a pressure unlike anything she had ever felt before building inside her and she fought to maintain her control. But everything Puck was doing felt so good and the pressure was so painful, she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold on.

"Rachel, let go" Puck said gently. He knew she was fighting with all her might to keep her orgasm from happening and even though Rachel didn't know why, he did. He had been told by Quinn once that when they had sex, she had kept her orgasm from happening for so long that the pain overtook the pleasure. That was the last thing he wanted for Rachel to experience; she deserved all the pleasure in the world. If she didn't come soon, Puck knew it would scare her away from anything sexual.

Rachel was almost crying since the pressure was becoming painful. Her eyes felt like they were glued shut and her abs were on fire from the tension.

"Rachel," Puck said tenderly. He kept moving his fingers against the rocking of her hips to keep the pressure; otherwise she'd lose her orgasm. "Don't be afraid."

The moment Rachel heard Puck say the words, her control left her just in time for the pressure to reach a boiling point. Somehow, she relaxed while her muscles tensed in the right places and she let the colossal wave of pleasure take over.

Puck felt Rachel's insides clamp down on his fingers so hard that he couldn't move them if he wanted to. Instead of trying to move his fingers inside, he soothed rubbed her clit with his free hand, prolonging and intensifying Rachel's orgasm. He let her ride it out and when he was able to move his fingers, he gently slid them out. He soothed Rachel's throbbing nerves by slowly licking and lightly rubbing every inch of her core.

Rachel sighed in pure contentment as she was coming down from her high. She was grateful for the extra attention to her aching center. His tongue and lips felt good on her hot skin and were soothing her sensitive bundle of nerves.

After a few minutes of soaking up the last of her juice, Puck smiled broadly at Rachel. "Well, how was it?"

Rachel was glowing with the look of wonder. "Wow" was all she managed to say. She heard him laugh and look around for something. "What are you looking for?" he held up his fingers and she saw something shiny on them. "What is that?" she said with a scrunched face.

"It's your Berry juice" he said as he stuck a finger in his mouth and sucked on it. She gave him a curious look and crawled over to him. She sat on her shins and brought his other finger to her lips. She licked and sucked it for a few seconds and then released it with a 'pop'. Puck sat there and stared at her. Christ, he loved this girl. "Could you be any more sexy?" he said with awe.

Rachel smiled widely and looked down. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed. She looked at him in horror and said, "You must be in so much pain!" she motioned with her eyes and he followed the motion down to his pants, which Rachel was sure would rip any minute.

"Worth it" Puck declared.

"But that's not fair!" She reached down and started to unbuckled his pants when Puck caught her hands. Even though he wasn't saying anything verbally, she knew what he was thinking and it made her love him even more. "I want to Noah." She slid her hands from his grasp and continued her mission of de-panting him. "Stand up" she commanded. He gave a small smile and obeyed her command.

"Rach, you really don't have to."

"Noah, I'm going need you to do me a favor" Rachel smiled mockingly. "Unless you're moaning my name or telling me what to do to make you come harder," she was pulling his pants down slowly while staring up at him. She got his pants to his knees and raised herself back up to his eye level. "I want you to be quiet." She hooked his boxers with her fingers and pulled them down. She grabbed his shaft and lowered her mouth to him. She heard him hiss and it made her smile with pride.

"F-Fuck, Berry." He choked out.

Rachel put her non existent gag reflex to the test as she took him in as far back as she could. What couldn't fit in her mouth, Rachel grabbed with her two hands and began to stroke. The top hand was going slow while the other went fast. As she heard Puck curse and grab her hair, she made a mental note to thank Santana for having all those sexual talks before Glee. Rachel picked the pace up with her hands while she played with Puck's tip.

Puck had never thought Rachel had a no gag reflex, but thank Fuck she did! He had never had a girl take him this deep before and it completely added to the experience. His hips had started to rock when she picked up the pace but then he felt a vibrating sensation and realized that she was humming. Humming while giving head; who else thinks of that besides Rachel Berry? "Fuck Rach. I'm gonna come." He had barely gotten the words out when she hummed a deep note, causing him to explode into her mouth.

Rachel had learned from Santana to swallow quickly, otherwise it'd be quitting- and Rachel Berry is no quitter. She gently massaged his balls until she felt him relax. She released his tip with a pop and scooted back to smile at him. "Well, how was it?" she said giddily.

Puck opened his eyes and stared at Rachel, still naked on his bed. He gave her a smile and sat beside her on the bed, "Perfect." His remark earned him a glowing smile from the beautiful brunette and he felt proud that he could make her smile like that.

They sat next to each other in a comfortable silence for a minute before Puck's stomach growled. "Wanna get outta here and get something to eat?" he asked.

"We can leave?"

"Who fucking cares? I'm starving and I know you are too." Puck rose from his bed and put his boxers and pants back on while Rachel snapped her bra back in place and put on her tank top. Puck found his deodorant and put some on, then offered it to Rachel.

"I'll pass" She said nicely. "There's some in the bathroom so I'll just use that." She walked to the bathroom with the sheet wrapped around her waist.

Puck shrugged and put on his shirt. He looked for Rachel's skirt when he realized that she didn't have any underwear. "Are you just going to wear the skirt like that?" he asked when she returned from the bathroom. She was already zipping it up while slipping into her flip flops.

"How else am I gonna wear it? I have no underwear."

"I don't know but it's a short skirt Rach. If you bend over, some asshole will see your-" he motioned his hands toward her and she smiled in an amused expression. "You know, your treasures."

Rachel laughed and put her hand on his chest. "Then I won't bend over. Besides, it's your fault I have none to wear." She could tell he wanted to say something but hunger was making her crabby. She put a hand up to his lips and said, "I'm just really hungry Noah_. _After we eat, we'll go pick me out some new underwear. How's that sound?"

The plan sounded reasonable to Puck, although he didn't like the idea of Rachel not wearing any underwear- in public at least. "Sounds good. Let's go before I eat you..again." he teased. Rachel lightly slapped his chest as he grabbed his wallet and jacket and they walked out to the elevator. Just before the door closed, Puck heard a voice holler to keep it open. He quickly jammed his hand in to stop it and lucky for him, it did.

They heard the sounds of feet running and suddenly Shelby Corcoran rushed into the door just in time for the it to close.

Suddenly, the elevator wasn't big enough to hold all of them. Rachel tried to hide her emotions until she saw Puck staring at something beside Shelby. She followed his gaze down to see a little blonde haired, hazel eyed girl staring straight at him.

Shelby cleared her throat and tried to hide the little girl from the two teens but the girl cried when she blocked the view of Puck. "Beth, stop that. You're fine." She immediately regretted saying Beth's name even though it was obvious it was her.

Rachel looked at Puck and thought he was going to pass out. His color had completely gone and he looked as though he just saw Bigfoot or something. Rachel made him lean on her in case he passed out.

These moments had only happened in a few seconds but no matter how hard they prayed that ride would be over soon, the elevator stopped at level 3. Shelby moved her and Beth all the way to the other end of the elevator to give each other some space.

When they reached the 3rd floor, Rachel could've sworn she had a small stroke when she saw who was waiting for the elevator; the moment Quinn Fabray stepped in, Rachel had a sickening feeling that something bad was going to happen.

Quinn looked at Puck with a curious expression, and then glanced over at Rachel, who didn't look any better. She pressed the lobby button and asked, "What's with you two? You look as though you've seen a ghost." She heard a noise to her right and saw Shelby trying to blend in with the wall. She was about to say something when she saw a movement close to the floor and that's when she saw her: Beth.

Quinn's breath didn't even make it past her throat when they felt a jolt.

Suddenly, the light flickered a few times but the electricity hadn't come back on. Rachel looked over and saw a phone in case of an emergency. She quickly picked it up and hoped to God someone answered soon. There was no possible way she could stay in here; this was an elevator ride from hell. "Yes! Yes, is someone there? We're in the elevator and it won't move." It's a good thing no one was breathing; otherwise Rachel wouldn't have heard anything the quiet woman on the other end said. "Ok, how long will that take?"

The others were caught between listening intently and not at all. Shelby's gaze was everywhere but on the opposite side of the elevator; Puck was staring at his daughter and Quinn was trying to remember how to breathe. Overall, you could cut the tension with a plastic butter knife.

"No, no, no NO! You don't understand!" Rachel pleaded into the phone. "This is the most awkward situation, you can't even possibly imagine! We've got to get out of here!" Rachel pleaded. Everyone heard a loud voice over the receiver. "Yeah? Well fuck you!" Rachel screamed as she slammed the phone down hard. She turned around and cleared her throat. "There was a power shortage" she said calmly. "They said they're working on it now."

Quinn and Puck looked at each other with mixed expressions. They'd never heard Rachel curse before and Puck was a little turned on while Quinn had a blank expression.

"So we're stuck? Together?" Shelby said. Not really to anyone in particular, but to herself. The others semed to absorve her question, forcing the tension to be felt even more.

Puck sighed heavily and slid down against the wall. Rachel slid down beside him with Quinn and Shelby following on separate walls. Puck silently looked around the occupants of the elevator and commented off handedly, "This is the most fucked up elevator ride. Ever."

Yep, that pretty much summed up their situation.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Holy crap was this chapter really hard to write! I had so many ideas of how I wanted it to go so I finally decided and I hope all y'all like it. I made it longer to make up for the lack of updating. So let me know what you think:)**

**Glee disclaimer: I don't own Glee. If I did, Finn wouldn't have been so creepy tonight and Puck would've been on the date with Rachel instead.**

Chapter 9

It had been 30 minutes since the elevator broke down and the only thing in the hot metal box that dared to make a noise was Beth; everyone else was concentrating on not saying anything despite the dozens of questions lingering above their heads.

When Puck had thought about all the fantasies of Rachel that he had conjured up in his mind, being stuck in an elevator with her wearing a short skirt and no underwear had been his number one. Now, he wasn't sure he'd ever take another elevator again. He moved to shift closer to her and felt a drop of water fall from his head. It dawned on him how hot it was as he looked over at Rachel and saw her hair was damp from sweat; in fact, it seemed like everyone was sweating profusely.

Rachel couldn't stop looking at Shelby. She had everything to say and yet nothing at all. The way they left things may have satisfied Shelby, but it hadn't been satisfactory for Rachel. How could a lifetime of wondering end with such disappointment?

Shelby was getting tired of the awkward tension. Clearing her throat to break the uncomfortable silence, she asked, "So how is practice coming? Are you all set?"

Quinn looked to Puck and Rachel but neither seemed interested in answering. "We just got fini-"

"Why are you here?" Rachel asked. She didn't mean to interrupt Quinn but she knew that was the question everyone was thinking. Besides, it wasn't in her nature to beat around the bush.

"I'm a judge." The three teens stared at her and she could feel the questions swimming their heads. "When we came in second place at Nationals last year, the board was impressed so they asked me to be a judge this year. Obviously, I said yes."

"Why'd you bring Beth?" Puck asked tightly.

Shelby shrugged and replied, "She's my daughter. Why wouldn't I?" She glanced over to see Rachel rolling her eyes.

"You know, I never would've thought you for a liar" Rachel accused.

"Excuse me?" Shelby asked incredulously.

"I can't believe you would sink so low as to bring Jesse here just to mess with me." Rachel had raised her voice even higher, if that were possible.

Puck grabbed Rachel's arm, trying to calm her down. He had an idea about how she felt about Shelby from last year, but no one seemed to bring it up after that. He'd meant to, but didn't know how to approach the subject without bringing Beth into it- and that he wasn't willing to do. But no matter how Rachel felt, he couldn't believe that Shelby would do that. She just seemed to pride herself on being the best by _beating_ the best, not by sabotaging them. "Babe! I-"

"Babe?" Quinn asked icily. "Are you two together now? Geez Puckerman, what are you on a cherry popping mission?" The question earned her a glare from Puck.

"I'm sorry, what?" Shelby asked.

"Nothing" Rachel threw out before turning to Quinn. "What are you talking about?"

"Is that what I heard coming from your room?" Shelby asked pointedly to Puck. "You were deflowering my daughter?"

"I'm not your daughter" Rachel said as if it were a matter of fact. "I think you made that quite clear."

Shelby swallowed hard, hoping to hide the frustration she felt. "Rachel, I know you don't believe me but I truly am sorry I put you through that."

"You should be" Rachel pouted. She looked over to see Puck giving her a hard glare. "What?" she snapped.

"Rachel" Shelby interjected. "I had no idea that Jesse was even here until we met in the elevator today."

Rachel blinked rapidly, "You mean, it wasn't you who brought him here?" She saw Quinn giving her a condescending smirk and turned her gaze to the man sitting next to her. "Noah? What's going on?"

Puck glared at Quinn and shifted further from Rachel so he could see her face better. "Brittany told us that she overheard Coach Sue and Jesse talking to each other before we left."

"I knew it" Rachel scoffed. "He swore that he wasn't here to mess with me."

"Well it worked didn't it? You slept with him." Quinn sneered.

"What?" Shelby asked wide eyed. Puck mimicked her surprised look, but with a twist of disgust.

"Sorry, Puckerman." Quinn ground out. "Looks like someone else beat you to the promised land."

"Shut it Fabray" Puck snapped.

"Rachel, I'm astonished" Shelby remarked. "I didn't think that you forgave Jesse for deceiving you."

Rachel cleared her throat and straightened her skirt. "Not that it's any of your business, but we worked everything out."

"Obviously" Quinn quipped. She saw Rachel biting her lip and decided that perhaps there was no better time to get everything off her chest, especially now that Mr. Schue wasn't there break it up."You just give off this impression of a good girl but the reality is that you're just as much of a slut as Santana and Brittany."

Before Puck could react, Rachel was on her feet just inches away from Quinn. "_I'm_ a slut? That's funny coming from the girl who got knocked up by her boyfriend's best friend and didn't tell him about it!" Rachel saw Quinn's face get hard and felt Puck's hand on her wrist tighten. "And then what do you do when you have someone great like Sam? You cheat on _him_ with the same boyfriend you cheated on! You have no conscience! How would you feel if Finn cheated on you?"

"He would never do that. He loves me." The blonde stated.

"No. He doesn't. He loves _me_ and you can't stand that a guy picked me over you!" Rachel thought about telling her about the bowling alley and the auditorium but decided that despite how things ended with Finn, those were her memories. She didn't want to share them with anyone who wouldn't understand.

"I'm the one that's with him treasure trail and there's nothing you can do about it."

Rachel made a grunting noise out of pure frustration and brought her hand to the bridge of her nose to keep herself composed. Though the tone was calm, her voice was cold. "Yes, well let's not forget what happened the last time you two were together." Everyone followed her gaze toward the little blonde girl sitting on the floor.

Quinn let a tear slip and quickly wiped it away. "Shut up Berry" she warned.

"Why?" Rachel scoffed. "Because it's the truth? We both know that you never loved Finn, otherwise you wouldn't have slept with Puck." As soon as she said the words, she felt Puck loosen his grip and move back to his former sitting position. It wasn't until she saw him produce a pensive expression that she felt slightly guilty. But there was no point in stopping now. The tension, lack of air, and hunger was bringing up deep seeded issues between the two girls.

"Don't act like you know me" Quinn said with gritted teeth. "Or Puck for that matter. You haven't the slightest idea of what happened between us" the blonde stated as she rose to look Rachel in the eye. "Don't act like you cared about me or Puck because we all know you were too busy making out with Jesse to pay attention to anything else!"

"At least I cared about Jesse! Were you even in love with Puck? Of course not! That would mean you would have to share your love with someone else besides you!" Rachel stomped.

"ENOUGH!" Puck bellowed. Both girls snapped their necks to face Puck who was slowly rising from his seat. "Why are you guys constantly at each other's throats? It's infuriating! Neither of you know the other enough to be saying all this so just..." Puck stammered to find the right phrase "Shut up! I'm so sick of hearing about Finn and Quinn or Quinn and me, or Finn and Rachel!" He stared at the girls in front of him, both of which had their mouths open in complete shock. "Rachel" he said, gently putting his hands on her shoulders. "Contrary to what you think, what happened between me and Quinn is none of your business."

"Noah-"

"No." Puck said before Rachel could finish. "It's not your business." He could see that she was having a hard time keeping quiet. It nearly killed him that she was looking so hurt, but if she would give him a chance, he could tell her what he wanted to say. "Just like it's none of my business what happened between you and Jesse."

"See treasure trail?" Quinn leered. "No one cares about what you have to say."

"Excuse me?" Shelby interjected. She had been standing silently against the railing, deciding on whether she should say something but really, what could she do? They weren't her kids and clearly, they had complicated issues to work out. However, Rachel was still her daughter and it pained her to see the hurt Rachel felt whenever someone crossed the line. And Quinn had definitely just crossed the line. "I don't know why you think you can just speak the way you do, but it's going to stop right now. Now, it's apparent all three of you have some issues, but that doesn't mean you have to degrade Rachel in order to say what's on your mind."

Quinn gave Shelby a quizzical brow, "You're such a hypocrite."Rachel reached toward Quinn to stop her while Puck was trying to keep Rachel out of yet another mini war that was brewing. _Jesus, I'm gonna get a brain aneurysm,_ He thought."You used Jesse to get to Rachel and then when she finally finds her mother, you don't think she's good enough."

"Quinn!" Puck reprimanded. He knew that Quinn played dirty, even dirtier than Santana, when she really wanted to humiliate someone.

The moment Quinn stopped speaking, the room became so quiet that Puck thought he could hear everyone's heart beating. It was an unsettling feeling considering ten seconds ago, the elevator was filled with high pitched squeals and foot stomping.

"What do you mean she used Jesse to get to me?" Rachel asked in a shaky voice. She glanced between Shelby and Quinn, searching for an answer. "What are you talking about Quinn?" Rachel stared at Quinn but only saw the blonde's green eyes looking hard at her biological mother. "Shelby?"

Quinn saw Shelby's eyes pleading for her not to say anything. She turned to face Rachel and saw the tiny brunette tearing up. "You mean your precious Jesse didn't tell you? Miss Corcoran told him to get close to you so you would find her and you guys would have a happy ending." Quinn saw Rachel's eyes fly to her mother, begging to her to deny it. Watching Rachel being hurt made Quinn realize that the reason why she tortured Rachel so much was because it made it her happy. To see Rachel was to see a future that she could never have; she was always going to be stuck in Lima and she hated that Rachel was going to leave; it was inevitable, as though Destiny herself had already written it down. It made her angry to see that the two guys she ever had feelings for choose Rachel and she couldn't understand what they see in her.

"Quinn, how could you say something so cruel?" Rachel asked her.

The former cheerio focused in on the big brown eyes in front of her. "It's the truth" she shrugged. "Just ask her or your beloved Jesse."

Rachel turned her attention toward the tall brunette standing right next to Quinn. "Is that true?"

"Yes" She admitted. Rachel gasped but quickly recovered. "How did you know?"

"I overheard you two talking when I snuck into Carmel one night" Quinn said carelessly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Rachel asked, suddenly angry again.

"Because we needed you for Regionals. Though it didn't do us much good did it? You and Finn killed our chances."

Shelby and Rachel snorted at the same time, eliciting strange looks from Puck and Quinn. "No, I don't think that was it" Shelby stated.

"What do you mean?" Puck inquired.

"She means that it was probably the pregnant girl bouncing around everywhere that really turned off the judges" Rachel clarified.

Suddenly, Puck heard raised voices again and everyone was yelling at each other. He tried to understand what they were saying but gave up considering they all seemed to be talking about different things and he lost track of what the point of the argument was.

He saw Beth in the corner and discretely walked to where she was standing. She seemed frightened by everything going on and was holding on to her doll for dear life. "Hi Beth" he said gently. "My name is Noah." Sitting down with his legs outstretched, he saw Beth slowly walking toward him so he held out his hand for her. He was surprised when came to sit on his lap. He looked down and smiled at her and was rendered speechless as she laid her head on his chest. She brought her small hand to rest on his open palm; the sight caused Puck to momentarily block everything else out. There were no voices, no fighting- just her small delicate hand outstretched in his callused one. She brought her eyes up to Puck and smiled. He thought she looked like one of his sister's porcelain dolls with her soft pink princess dress and rosy cheeks. She definitely had his eyes but Quinn's lips, hair and skin tone. "You know," he began quietly. "I have a sister and I remember when she was your age. She was just as pretty as you." He knew she couldn't understand, but thanks to his many nights babysitting his sister, he knew that younger children just liked to be talked to. He looked at her baby doll, "You wanna play a game?" Even though Beth just stared at him, Puck liked to think that she knew who he really was. "It's called Peek-A-Boo. Ready?" He put his hands in front of his face for a second before revealing his face to her. He enjoyed watching her smile and clap her tiny hands in pure (dare he say it?) glee. He took her hands in his and tried to teach her how to fist bump before the sound of a hand against a wall burst his Beth bubble.

"Why do you try so hard? He'll never love you." Puck's head snapped up and he saw Shelby rubbing her temples while Quinn had her "queen bitch" smirk on. Her hand was against the wall, next to Rachel, who had closed her eyes in an attempt to conceal the tears that were threatening to shed. He saw her curl her lips into her mouth and knew that Quinn must've hit a sore spot. "I told you before Rachel: you live in a schoolgirl fantasy and despite writing a song about it, you _still_ haven't gotten it right. Puck will _never_ love you the way he loved me."

Puck would've totally slushied Quinn right then if he had one. The look on Rachel's face was making his heart ache for her. Just as he opened his mouth to correct Quinn, he heard a whining sound as the lights flickered quickly. The elevator jolted down and Beth scrambled into his arms, completely frightened. She started to cry so he held her head gently and started rocking back and forth to calm her down. As he was shushing her, he saw Shelby reach for the little girl so he reluctantly gave her over.

When the elevator reached the lobby, Shelby grabbed her bags and rushed out, leaving the three teens standing at the doorway of the golden doors.

Rachel started to walk toward the vestibule but turned around and looked expectantly at Puck, who was lingering just outside the elevator doors with Quinn. He gave Rachel a soft look and walked to the petite girl to kiss her forehead. "Go on to the lobby. I'll be there in a second." Rachel glowered at Quinn before making her way out to the foyer.

As soon as Puck saw her sit in a chair he turned his attention to Quinn, his soft look giving way to a hard glare. His pace made her walk backward until she hit the wall and his icy tone gave her a chill. "If you ever talk to Rachel like that again, I promise I will make your life a living hell." Quinn gave a smirk and started to say something. "Shut up" He snapped. "You ever make her cry like that again and I swear to God- baby mama or not, you are dead to me. What Finn did at prom won't compare to what I'll do everyday of your life. And you know I'll do it."

Quinn didn't know what to say. She'd never seen or even hear Puck threaten a girl before. "You're threatening me? For Man Hands?" she said disbelievingly.

Puck gave a rough chuckle and shook his head. "Her name is Rachel and think of it as a very strong promise" he clarified. Her brows knit together in confusion as he continued. "You're a bitch Fabray, and it's time you start being treated like one." He chucked his hands into his jeans and walked away, leaving a speechless Quinn behind.

Rachel wiped the tears that managed to escape as she waited for Noah. She could tell he was upset, but wasn't sure why. Her confrontation with Shelby in the elevator frustrated her and even though she was mad at Quinn, she was used to quarreling with her arch enemy so normally the hurtful insults rolled off her back. However, Quinn's barbs seemed poisoned this time and she stuck them exactly where she knew where it would hurt Rachel. As she brought her hand up to clear her matted hair from her face, she saw Noah coming toward her with a grin on his face. "What's the look for?" she hardly had time to get the question out before he lifted her off the ground and gave her a breathtaking kiss. He put her down and she rested her head on his chest. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that about?"

Puck shrugged and wrapped his arm around Rachel's neck, bringing her closer. He guided them toward the entrance door when his stomach growled violently. "Nothing, really. I just like kissing you" he glanced down and gave her a smug look. "Babe, I'm starved. I say we stop at the nearest food joint."

Rachel leaned into Noah even more and wrapped her arm around his muscular waist. She could feel the muscle under his shirt, which was sticky with sweat. She realized that her skirt was clinging to her as well but she didn't care. She smiled up at him brightly, "Sounds great. I'm starving too." She felt him place a soft kiss on her head as he opened the door for her.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

They settled on a pizza place around the corner and while they were quietly eating, Rachel suddenly yelped.

"What's wrong?" Puck asked.

"Don't talk with your mouth full. It's disgusting" she reprimanded as he rolled his eyes. "And I shifted wrong so now my butt is cold" Rachel said with a wince. Puck gave a confused expression before the light bulb went off and he started laughing. "It's not funny Noah!" Rachel tried to stifle her laugh but was failing miserably. She tried to pull her skirt down further to cover as much of her legs as possible, but she only managed to pull it down an inch or two.

Puck couldn't help but laugh at the way Rachel was wiggling in the metal chair. He took his jacket from the chair next to him and offered to her. "I don't want you to freeze Berry." Rachel grabbed the jacket and folded it beneath her. He watched a warm smile spread across her face. "Better?" he said, amused.

Rachel nodded, "Much. So what did you want to do now?"

Puck shook his head, "I chose last time. It's your turn. Though I am hoping you're going to take me underwear shopping with you," he winked "preferably Victoria's Secret."

Rachel couldn't help but smirk at Noah's incessant innuendoes. "Are you finished? Because I really need some underwear. I hate going commando."

Puck let out a soft chuckle, "Yeah, I'm good." He stood and went to throw his and Rachel's plates away. He took his jacket back from Rachel and put his arm out for her, which she gladly accepted. When they got to a nearby Victoria's Secret, Puck stopped when Rachel opened the door. "Rach, I was just kidding. We didn't have to come here."

"Despite what your massive ego is telling you, I didn't come here for you. I always shop at Victoria's Secret." She held the door and made a welcoming gesture with her arm. Puck obliged and practically ran into the store. "Don't go too crazy" Rachel warned. "I don't fancy another traumatic experience like the plane."

Puck was too enthralled with the posters and pictures of supermodels to pay attention to what Rachel was saying. He waved his hand in response to her rambling and started off toward the lingerie section. "Damn Berry!" he shouted across the store. "I'd love to see you in this!" he grabbed a lace and mesh teddy from the rack and held it up.

Rachel turned a deep red and ran over to where Noah was holding the lingerie in his hands. "Noah!" she hissed. "Put that back!"

"Is there something I can help you with?" the saleslady said. Rachel noted the woman looked like the love child of Heidi Klum and Adrianna Lima- striking bone structure, jet black hair complete with bright hazel eyes and a body Rachel would kill for.

"Uh, yeah do you have this in a-" Puck grazed over Rachel's body, "What size are you Rach?"

Before Rachel could answer, the saleswoman voiced her opinion. "I would say a size two. Correct?" Rachel just looked at the woman with a stunned expression.

Puck noticed Rachel's lack of words. "That means yes."

Rachel continued to listen as Noah and the woman searched for a sexy lingerie piece in her size. She was definitely regretting bringing him here.

"Here Rach, we found one" Puck said while holding out a hanger for her.

"Noah, this is not what I'm here for" she said impatiently. She turned to the tall woman next to Noah. "I need some undergarments" she stated.

"Well we certainly have those also." The model-y woman guided her toward the underwear section. Rachel knew exactly what she needed so she headed over to the bin. After she picked out a few new and fun ones, she headed up to the register with a pouting Puck in tow. "Is this all for you today?"

"Yes, thank you."

While Rachel paid the woman, Puck grabbed the pink bag from Rachel. He pulled out a pair of blue striped underwear and held it up. "Aw come on, you pick this out of everything?"

Rachel snatched the underwear from his hand and stuffed it back in the bag. "I just need some underwear Noah. I don't care what they look like." She walked back into the changing room and pulled them on, feeling much better. She came out to find the saleswoman flirting heavily with Noah, who was still holding the lingerie in his hand. He seemed to be flirting back, and it caused a rush of jealousy over her. She stormed over and grabbed the hanger. "Don't go anywhere."

Puck smiled brightly as Rachel walked back to the room, mesh lingerie crap in her hands. "Thanks. She never would've done it otherwise" he said, turning to the tall beauty.

"No problem" she said with a flirty smile. "Is she your girlfriend?"

"Not yet," Puck smirked at the thought of saying that one day. "I'm workin on it though."

"Well she's very beautiful-short, but beautiful" the woman beamed. "My fiancé loves petite girls. Fortunately, he doesn't mind tall ones either" she mused.

"Does he know you flirt with other guys at work?" Puck teased.

"Ha! How do you think I met him?" she winked. "Oh wow!"

Puck glanced over to where the woman's gaze was. He jaw dropped as he saw Rachel standing in the lingerie he picked out. For a moment, Puck couldn't catch his breath. "Fuck Berry!" he breathed out. "And I thought you wearing that Britney outfit at school was sexy!"

Rachel blushed and shifted uncomfortably as she noticed the looks guys were giving her. "Good." She heard a wolf whistle coming from somewhere in the store and blushed even redder.

Puck looked around for the asshole that made the whistle but couldn't see him. He walked over to Rachel, blocking her from view. "Now that we've established that you're fucking sexy, let's get busy getting that off" he said with a grin.

"I can do that myself, Noah" Rachel rebuked. As she turned to head back to her dressing room, she felt Noah's hand grab her wrist and pull her backward. She gasped when he gave her a possessive but passionate kiss.

Puck didn't want to let her go, especially with that outfit on but he knew that she was probably getting embarrassed at standing in a doorway with nothing but a few pieces of lace on. He unwillingly let her go and watched as she walked back to the room to change, noting that he was going to have rip more underwear of hers in the future. "You ready?" he asked while she emerged from the door.

"Definitely" she laughed. "I got my underwear so I'm ready to face the world again."

"I can't believe you went through like an hour in that elevator without giving that fact away" Puck noted.

Rachel gasped loudly, "Oh my God! Do you think they noticed? I was so caught up with the relentless verbal abuse that I nearly forgot!"

"I don't think they were looking Rachel" Puck mused. "And if they were, well then that's their problem."

Rachel beamed and hugged herself into him as they walked down the street. The sun was already setting and the air had become slightly cooler. "Can you believe what's happened in one day?"

Puck seemed in the same reflective mood as Rachel, "I know. It's seemed forever since I knocked St. Douche on his ass." Rachel scrunched her nose and made a pensive face. Puck had an overwhelming urge to ask her the question that had been bugging him since the elevator. "Hey, Berry. Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Noah."

"Why did you sleep in Jesse's room? I mean, why not mine?" He stopped walking when Rachel did, who was looking at him with her lip tucked into her mouth.

"I didn't sleep with him Noah" Rachel assured. "It was late and I didn't want to wake Kurt going back in."

Puck set his jaw, "You're lying" he accused. Rachel's lip puffed out in anger but before she could say anything, Puck cut off her off. "Before you say a bunch of words that I don't understand, I meant that you're only telling me a version of the truth."

"Well then pray tell- what is the truth since you know me so well" Rachel huffed and crossed her arms.

Puck stepped into her personal space. "I think that you wanted to sleep with him but chickened out and you're using not waking Kurt as an excuse to not to say it." When he saw her turn her eyes away from him and blink a few times, he knew he nailed it. Rachel always did that look when someone saw through her.

Rachel took a deep breath and turned to Puck. "Yes" she said reluctantly. "Even though he didn't say it, I know Jesse and I knew that's probably what he really wanted. But nothing happened last night. I slept in the other bed and he slept in his. I thought about it, and I could tell he was too. I knew he wanted me to make the first move, but I couldn't." Rachel felt a tear fall off her eyelash and quickly wiped it away. "It doesn't matter anymore though because nothing happened."

"Can I ask another question? Just one more I promise." Puck said quietly. Rachel shrugged in response so he continued, "Why do like him?"

"He understands me."

"I understand you, some of the time." Puck sulked.

"I mean in terms of personality. He understands why I love the stage so much and why I'm so ambitious. He's just as dedicated as I am to the stage and it was nice to be around someone who liked me _because_ of those things rather than like me _in spite_ of them." Rachel explained. "And he makes me feel beautiful" she added quietly.

Puck sighed deeply. He hated that Rachel had such low self esteem, especially because she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He gently put his finger under her chin and lifted it up so he could see into her eyes. "I'm sorry that you feel like no one understands you" he said seriously. "I may not be dedicated to the stage but I would be dedicated to you if you'd let me."

Rachel stared into his hazel eyes, searching for anything that would tell her that he was lying. After a quiet minute, she smiled sweetly at him. "I don't want to be the center of your life Noah. You need other ambitions besides that."

"Babe, the only ambition I have right now is to kiss you. Once I do that, I'll focus on something else- like getting you to buy that sexy lingerie you tried on."

Rachel laughed at his playful tone. That was one of the things she liked about him: he could always make a tense situation better just by saying something completely inappropriate. She brought her arm around his neck and brought her lips to his. Instead of the usual tingle she felt, a different feeling started to sear into her lips, as though he were leaving a piece of him with her and vice versa. "Wow" was all she managed to get out when they finally broke the kiss.

"Yeah" Puck breathed. He had never in his life been kissed like that. He never thought that a simple kiss would leave him so…breathless, especially one from Rachel Berry. He backed away before he did something dirty and instead took her hand. "Come on, let's go back to the hotel."

"I don't want to do anything" Rachel said quickly. Despite what she said, her body was screaming for Puck to do something, _anything_ to her.

Puck moped as they turned the direction toward the hotel. "Not even make out?" Rachel pursed her lips together, causing him to burst into laughter. "I'm only half joking Berry. I was thinking more about Kurt and Mercedes. I'm sure they'd like to hear all about the elevator." He was quite proud of himself for thinking of a quick excuse.

Rachel groaned in frustration. "Oh yeah, I have to ask him a question anyway."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Walking up the stairs to Mercedes' room, Puck revealed his fantasy about the elevator to Rachel. "That is disgusting Noah" she said with a wrinkled nose. "Not only have people probably done that in there, but after what happened earlier, I'd rather lose my voice than step into another elevator" she put her hand on his cheek and continued walking toward the second floor. "Stop looking at my butt Noah" she called. She could feel his eyes on her and knew that's the body part he was looking at.

"Hey, I can't help it if you have a perfect ass Berry. I'm just admiring it the way it's supposed to be."

"Please, I can practically feel your dirty thoughts penetrating through my skirt."

"I'm not surprised. I can see straight up it and I gotta say that I'm not happy about the underwear situation. I think you should've stuck with going commando." He could tell Rachel was turning a deep shade of red even though he couldn't see her.

"After the fuss you made about me not wearing underwear?"

"In public babe! We're not in public anymore."

Rachel opened the door to the second floor and waited for Puck to arrive. "You know, I would've thought an athletic guy like you wouldn't have any trouble climbing stairs" she wondered.

"I run Berry. I bet you couldn't keep up with me on a run since all you do is work out on that damn elliptical" he huffed out.

"You remember that?"

"Of course" he replied. "And of course, you're dancing." He saw Rachel's confusion on her face. "Sometimes I watch when I'm bored all right?" he pulled the door open further, ushering Rachel in first.

"I suppose I should be upset or even creeped out that you stalk me but I find myself being strangely" she struggled to find the right word, "titillated."

Puck looked at her with a bewildered expression. "I have no idea what the word means, but it had the word 'tit' in it so it can't be that bad."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "It means I'm flattered Noah."

"Oh. I like the other word better." His declaration didn't surprise Rachel.

Rachel knocked on Mercedes' door. "Mercedes! Open up its Rachel and Noah!" The door swung open hard as Finn emerged from the room. "Finn? What are you doing here?"

"I got a better question: Why the hell is he here?" Finn nodded to Puck.

"Because he's with me" Rachel explained. His tone had caught her off guard and she could see the anger just waiting to explode. "Finn, what's wrong?"

"My guess is lack of action from the Ice Queen" Puck quipped. Before he could blink, Finn was jumping on him. Puck pushed him off but Finn took a swing and hit Puck square in the eye. Puck rebounded quickly and brought his fist down on Finn's face.

"Finn, Noah! Stop it!" Rachel yelled. She stepped foward to separate them when she felt Finn's elbow on her cheek. She stumbled backward into Kurt and Mercedes who were by the door.

"Stop it!" Kurt yelled. "You've hurt Rachel!" His words stopped both guys who were in the middle of throwing punches. Kurt looked at Rachel's cheek which was already starting to bruise. "Are you two happy now?" he scolded. Both took a step toward her when Mercedes stepped in front.

"What do you think you're doing? You both need to get the hell out of here before I make you" she said with a dangerous tone. The two men just stood there looking at Rachel. "GO!" Mercedes yelled. Finn walked away quickly, muttering something incoherently but Puck stayed and tried to force his way into the room. "Puck, I know you want to see her, but I think you need to cool off first."

"But _I_ didn't hit her!"

"I know that, but you're eye is swelling up to and you're super agitated. You need to take care of yourself first."

"Bu-"

"Puck, trust me" Mercedes placed her hand on his chest to stop him. "You need to get that bruise taken care of."

"I don't care about my face! I want to make sure she's okay" he pleaded.

"I'll let you know what's going on. Now go, before I kick your ass" she half teased.

Puck grunted in anger and headed for the only room he could think of that would help him without asking questions. He knocked on Santana's door and waited until she answered.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"What the hell happened to your face?" She asked, turning his head so she could get a better look.

"Finn punched me." He informed as he made his way into the room. He saw Brittany sitting in the corner with a robe and wet hair. "What's up?" he asked, nodding in her direction.

"Santana and I were making out. Wanna join?" Puck stopped halfway in his sitting position.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" he wondered to himself. "And I'm not exactly in the mood Brit." She looked hurt at his tone. "Sorry, but I have a lot on my mind."

"Please don't tell me you and Frankenteen fought over Quinn again" Santana said harshly. "She's not even a Cheerio anymore." She pressed a bag of ice against his eye and he winced at the contact.

"I think it was a mix of Rachel and what I said to Quinn."

"What'd you say?" Santana asked, walking to sit with Brit.

"I may have said something about making her life miserable if she talked to Rach like she's a piece of shit again."

"What!" Santana exclaimed. "You threatened Quinn? For Yentl?"

"No" he said forcefully. "It was a very strong promise and I did it for _Rachel._ The things Quinn said were just so mean. I mean, meaner than usual."

"Berry is a big girl Puck. She can take of herself; she did it before you came along, and she'll keep on doing it long after you're gone."

"What do you mean 'when I'm gone'? Why can't I stay?"

"Oh please! Puck, you've never had a serious relationship. Even when you were with Quinn, you were still a man whore."

"Yeah but now he's in love Santana. No one's a badass when they're in love" Brittany observed. Santana and Puck looked at her with blank expressions. "What? The way he looks at her is the way you look at me."

"I knew it!" Puck exclaimed. He knew something was going on between the two girls, he just couldn't place his finger on it.

"Shut it Puckerman!" Santana yelled. "If I find out that you told anyone, you won't have a reason to sleep with Stubbles. Got it?"

"You are the least of my problems, Satan" Puck stated.

"I don't understand why you just don't tell Rachel you love her" Brittany stated. "She clearly is in love with you so what's the problem?"

Puck let out a heavy sigh. "It's complicated- very, very complicated. I'll tell her when the moment is right." Just then his cell buzzed with a text from Mercedes stating that Rachel was heading for his room. "I gotta go. Thanks for the ice." He raced up the stairs, leaving the two girls in a stunned silence behind him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Hey" Rachel said when he opened the door. Puck made his way over to her and kissed the bruise on her face. "I don't want to talk so can we just go to bed?" she pleaded.

Puck nodded and gave her a hug. "Let me get dressed real quick." He grabbed some boxers from his bag and went to change. When he came out, Rachel was already in her bed, wearing one of his t-shirts. "I like your pajamas" he noted. She gave him a quick smile and turned over to face the wall.

Rachel tossed and turned for what felt like hours before she looked at the clock. She was frustrated when she had only gone to bed twenty minutes ago. She turned over to see Puck staring at her. "You can't sleep either?"

"Nope." Puck smirked and opened his bedspread. "Wanna come over?" Rachel seemed to think over his proposition before she gingerly made her way over to Noah's bed and snuggled into him. "Better?"

"Something's missing" she observed.

"What?" Puck felt her grab his arm and pull it around her. He smiled as he flexed his muscle and brought her closer to him.

"This" she answered. "Good night Noah" she whispered.

"Night, Rachel." Puck had never felt more content in his whole life than he did just then.

They fell into a deep sleep together, one's dream mirroring the other's.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you so much for sticking with this story! I love every single review, favorite and alert that I get! They always make me happy! I know that the Nationals episode was...what it was, but I made my Nationals a little different so I hope you still like it:) Read and Review pretty please with cherries on top! Also, thanks to everyone who didn't mind Puck threats the last chapter lol. **

**And I own nothing of Glee.**

Chapter 10

Puck woke up to feeling of emptiness. Rachel was gone and judging by how cold the sheet was, she'd been gone for a while. He decided that grumpy would be his attitude for the day since his only ray of sunshine was currently missing. He looked at the time and saw that it was only seven o'clock. He'd never been up this early, even during the school year. Pulling the covers back, he started to head for the shower. After waking up Rachel-less and cold, the hot water made him feel less deserted. He didn't know why she had left and maybe he didn't want to. He just hoped she wasn't feeling guilty about last night; he knew she still had feelings for Finn. _Finn!_ He groaned. Puck had forgotten about the promise he made to Finn right before the championship game. But it looked like Finn had moved on with Quinn, so that made it okay…right?

XOXOXOXOXO

Rachel had woken up at six to work out since that's what her body was used to. She desperately needed to clear her head and exercise was the best way for her to do that. She hadn't had a chance to be by herself and so much had happened over the course of two days that her head felt like it was going to burst.

Not taking the time to change, she took her room key from Noah's jeans before kissing him on the cheek and made her way down to her former room. It had already been cleaned, but some of Rachel's clothes had been put back into drawers. Standing in the middle of the room, Rachel's mind began to put together pieces that didn't seem to fit. "How did they do it?" she muttered to herself. She remembered that the only thing that seemed to be missing was her and Kurt's book bags, which confused her the most since she only carried her notes from Glee and some random thoughts in it. Rachel kept thinking about things that seemed random, but somehow were connected. It was maddening to try and make the pieces fit. It almost seemed like two different people broke in with different intentions- one taking the book bags, the other messing up the room. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in her head as she was grabbing random scraps clothes that were intact.

Racing down the stairs, Rachel couldn't believe that she didn't see it before. Stopping in front of Kurt's room, she hesitated momentarily before knocking.

"Rachel!" he said in complete shock.

"I'm sorry if I woke you" Rachel said quietly.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm an early riser. What's going on?"

"Do you remember what was taken from our room?"

Kurt thought for a moment before answering. "Our book bags and your key. Why?"

"I had a moment of clarity when I was standing in our room. Don't you find it odd that out of everything valuable we left out in the open, the only that was taken was our book bag?"

"And your key." Kurt added.

"Yeah, about that- I didn't lose my key" Rachel admitted. Kurt stared at her as though the light bulb hadn't quite gone off, but was warming up. "I left it in Jesse's room." Rachel saw the light go off in Kurt's head, followed by a loud gasp.

"You don't think..?" Kurt asked quietly. Rachel was nodding before he even finished the question. "You think he messed up the room too?"

Rachel was stumped on that one. "I don't know" she said uneasily. She saw Kurt's disbelief etched across his face. "Let's ask him." She turned on her heel and stormed down the hallway.

"Rachel!" Kurt called as he followed her. "Rachel, you can't go ask Jesse dressed like that." He took in Rachel's t-shirt and noticed that it was more like a boy's shirt than something Rachel would own. "Speaking of" he said, grabbing the material. "Whose shirt is this?"

Rachel swatted his hand away and continued down her path with Kurt walking briskly beside her. "It's Noah's. He let me borrow it since I didn't have any."

"How convenient" Kurt teased, earning an annoyed expression from Rachel. "Wait, where you going?" he asked when Rachel bypassed the elevator.

She stopped at the doorway and sighed. "Jesse's room."

"Yes, but why aren't you taking the elevator? It's quicker."

"Not always" she retorted. "It's a long story Kurt and I promise to tell you later but right now, I'm in a hurry." She raced up the stairs with Kurt in tow. "I can't believe I couldn't see it before! I had a feeling about it, but it didn't click until now." She stopped abruptly at Jesse's door and banged on it as loudly as she could.

"Rachel" Jesse said in utter shock. "Uh, Hi. Is everything ok?"

"Where's my keycard?" Rachel demanded. Even though Jesse looked surprised, Rachel knew from personal experience that he could be quite the actor when he needed to be. "Jesse, I know you have it because you used it to break into my room."

"W-What?" Jesse stammered. "What are you talking about? I didn't break into anything."

Kurt scoffed loudly, "Fine. You used it to _enter _our room."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Rachel stormed into the room and looked around so quickly that she almost didn't notice Kurt's and her book bag in the corner. She gave Jesse a glare and snatched it from its resting place, along with her keycard that resting on the dresser. "I can't believe it. Strike that- after what happened last year and then last night in the elevator, the only thing I can't believe was how stupid I was to believe that you had feelings for me." She turned on her heel but barely made it to the door before Jesse grabbed her arm.

"What are you talking about Rachel?"

"Quinn, Noah and I got stuck in the elevator with Shelby last night. Quinn told me she overheard you and my mother talking about how you were going to close to me so I could meet her."

"And you believed her? Rachel, of course she's going to say that. You hate each other."

"Is it true?" Jesse stood there, swallowing his answer. Rachel shook her head but refused to cry. "Is. It. True?" she demanded.

Jesse sighed heavily. "Yes. It's true. But that doesn't mean I didn't have real feelings for you."

"How do I know that? I'll never be able to trust you again and if you don't have trust, you can't have a relationship." Rachel shook her head slowly, trying to shake the memories away. She glanced up to see Kurt looking how she felt and she realized that her relationship with Jesse didn't just hurt her, it hurt her friends. Steeling herself, she turned to look the bushy haired boy in the eye. "Goodbye, Jesse."

XOXOXOXO

"Rachel?" Kurt asked calmly as they walked slowly down the hallway.

"Yes?"

"What happened with the elevator?" Rachel gave a slight chuckle and filled him in on what happened. "Oh my God!" Kurt gasped. He had sat open mouthed from beginning to end. "Rachel Berry said a curse word!" Rachel laughed loudly at his expression. "You think he's telling the truth about the room?" he asked without warning.

Rachel just shrugged lightly. "Maybe. I mean, he isn't exactly the Hulk and you saw the bathroom- it was like someone took a sledgehammer to the place."

"True. So any ideas who it was?"

"None. You?" Kurt shook his head no and Rachel blew her hair from her face out of frustration. "Wait, shouldn't security know? I'm sure they have cameras."

"If they saw anything strange, wouldn't they have told us by now?" Kurt observed.

"I would think so." Rachel was tired of thinking of the room situation. Besides, the only reason she was actually upset was because ninety eight percent of her wardrobe had to be thrown away. She needed to change the subject because she was starting to get frustrated again. "Noah ripped my underwear." She blurted out. She saw Kurt's eyes widen and then brighten with amusement. "Before you get the wrong idea, we didn't have sex."

"Then why did he rip your underwear?"

Rachel stifled a laugh at the memory of Noah holding up two pieces of cloth. "He got impatient when we were…making out." Kurt's eyebrow popped up, letting her know he didn't believe her. "Ok, fine! He-" Rachel didn't know how to finish the sentence without sounding vulgar.

"Ate you out?" Kurt suggested. Rachel squealed and brought her hand to her face to cover her eyes. Kurt laughed loudly as they entered the stairwell. "Rachel, are you embarrassed?"

"Yes and no." she huffed. "I am because I can't believe it happened and I'm not because it was incredible- except for one part." She saw her male counterpart's face encouraging her to continue. "I couldn't let go."

"Why?"

"I think I was scared." Rachel said more to herself, than Kurt.

Kurt gave her a curious look. "Scared of what? Puck?"

"I think it's what I become when he's around. You know what I mean?"

"Um, no."

"Oh come on. Surely, you must feel something whenever Blaine is around."

Kurt considered her suggestion for a moment. "I feel happy. Like everything's going to be okay. Is that how you feel with Puck?"

Rachel bobbed her head left to right, trying to decide if that was it or not. "Well yes and no. He does make me happy when he's not infuriating me but there's something else, something that makes me feel uninhibited and out of control. I can't decide if I like it or not." She opened the door to the first floor, letting Kurt in so they could part ways.

"Well if you want my opinion, which I know you do," he offered as he grabbed the bag that Rachel held out, "I think you should stay with him. Not only is he gorgeous, but he's a good guy underneath all that alpha maleness he has. He seems to really care about you and I think that given the chance, he could really be good for you. After all, everyone needs a little risk in their life, otherwise there's no point in living." He gave the tiny brunette a quick hug. "I gotta get back before Artie wakes up. He's an early riser too and I don't want him to worry." The door slammed shut behind him, leaving Rachel to wander up the stairs.

XOXOXOXOXO

Puck walked out of the bathroom and yelped when he saw Rachel sitting on his bed, as though she had never been gone. "Sorry, I didn't hear you come in."

Rachel chuckled softly and took in the view of Noah in a short towel. After a quick fantasy about him ripping it off and doing dirty things to her, she looked to see a worried expression on Puck's face.

"You okay? I woke up and you weren't here."

"Yeah. I was just picturing you na-" Rachel tucked her lip into her mouth and tried to hide her horror stricken face. She saw Noah grinning from ear to ear in an obnoxious manner and it made her blush even harder. "I-I meant to say that I went to get some clothes and then talked with Kurt. I thought I'd be back before you got up. Sorry if I worried you."

Puck waved his hand in a careless manner. "It's okay." He made his way closer to the spot where she was sitting, still in his shirt. "So you're thinking about me naked" Puck chuckled. "It's nice to know I'm not the only one having that picture right now." He kissed her lips softly and was momentarily stunned when Rachel pulled him into a tight hug. And not one of those 'I want to be romanced first before you ravage me' hugs; it was an 'I need to be held' hug. Rachel brought him in closer and he nearly stumbled onto the bed from the force of her embrace. "Whoa Berry. You trying to choke me?" When she didn't respond, he caressed her arms gently. "What's wrong?" he picked her up from the bed and wrapped his arms around her back. They stood there for a few moments as he rubbed circles on her back.

Rachel felt the hurt from having Jesse confirm that he had been lying during their entire relationship come back with a vengeance when Puck kissed her. Before she knew it, she had her arms wrapped around his neck, clinging with all her might. She felt safe whenever he was near and right now, she really just wanted to be comforted. "Nothing, I just want to be held for a little bit." She hated that she sounded so needy, especially after what happened with Finn, but dammit she didn't care.

"Well let me get some shorts on ok?" Rachel shook her head no, making him laugh. He carefully led her arms back to her body. "Get comfortable. I'll be out in a second."

Rachel loathed the loss of contact when he unwrapped her arms, but instead of pouting, she climbed back into bed. She knew when Noah was back from the bathroom from the force of the mattress being pushed down. She could smell his scent and it reminded her of those romance novels she read where the man always smelled of man and spice and musk. She never understood what that meant until now and to her surprise, she found it rather intoxicating. "Noah?"

"Yeah babe?" he whispered into her neck.

"Don't tell anyone but I'm kinda nervous about tonight."

"Why? You always rock the house. I'm the one that should be nervous."

"It's my first time singing without Finn, and even though I know you and I sound much better together, it's like a partnership that I've had with Finn for two years is gone now." she half turned her face to where his jaw rested on her cheek. "Why are you nervous?"

"I've never sang by myself at competition. Its nerve wracking; I don't know how you do it." Puck was surprised that he wasn't annoyed about her Finn comment. Perhaps it was because she was referring to him as a singing partner and not a lover. Besides, he couldn't stop her from wanting to be friends with Finn; they were in Glee club so they were always going to see each other.

"There's nothing to be nervous about Noah. This solo is long overdue for you." She could feel his lips turn into a smile and it put her at ease. " By the way, why were you up so early?"

"I got cold from being Berry-less" he teased. "And I couldn't go back to sleep so I took a shower" he explained. "How long have you been back?"

"Not that long. But I feel bad that I worried you. I should've let a note or something but I never thought you'd be up by now."

"Rach, its okay. I promise. You're obviously upset so just relax and go back to sleep." He could feel her breathing start to even out before he finished his sentence. He breathed in her French Vanilla scent and closed his eyes, falling back to sleep. This time, he tightened his hold around her to make sure she stayed put.

XOXOXOXOXO

"Noah, wake up." Rachel's gentle voice woke Puck from light sleeping.

"What's wrong? Is it time to go?" he asked. He stretched as much as he could, watching as Rachel swept her eyes over his body. "Or did you wake me up for another reason?" he smiled.

Rachel smirked at his suggestion and turned her body to face him. "I have something to tell you and I don't want you to get mad." Puck's face fell into exhaustion. Apparently he'd had enough of the drama also. But after finding out that Jesse had lied to her during their entire relationship, she decided she was always going to be honest. "I went to see Jesse" she could see his eyebrows begin to rise. "Before you get upset, it's not what you think; I had an epiphany so Kurt and I went to see if my assumption was correct."

"Two questions: What's an epiphany? And what was your assumption?"

Rolling her eyes, Rachel continued. "An epiphany is like when the light bulb goes off in your head and my assumption was that Jesse broke into our room." She was carefully observing for any sign of anger but only saw curiosity in his hazel eyes. "It turns out that he used my key that I left, to get into the room and steal our book bags."

"Why would he want your book bag?"

Rachel pursed her lips and knit her eyebrows together. "I don't know. I forgot to ask that."

"So is that why you were upset when you came back?" Rachel nodded slowly. "What'd else did he say?"

"That Shelby told him to get close to me."

"But, you already knew that."

"Yeah I know, but it was different when he told me, you know?" Rachel pulled her knees into her chest as she sat up. "As long as he denied it, so could I. But I guess he got tired of being a liar and I got tired of being lied to." She crawled over to where Puck was leaning against the headboard and rested her head on his shoulder. "I keep thinking about the guys I've known and so far, the only one I can think of that's never lied to me is you." She looked up into his intense stare and suddenly, she couldn't remember what she saw in Finn or Jesse that made them special.

Puck was surprised that not only was he listening to Rachel; he actually cared about what she had to say. Usually the only conversation he cared to have was when a girl was telling him what to do in the sack. But something about Rachel touched him where he rarely let anyone in- his heart. Maybe it was because deep down, he knew Rachel was the only person who had ever believed that he could be something other than a Lima Loser. He captured her lips with his and with a sweep of tongue along her bottom lip, she granted him access. He deepened the kiss as much as he possibly could and let his hands roam over her body.

Rachel didn't mind when Puck wanted to deepen the kiss; it was exactly what she needed. Within a matter of seconds, she had forgotten about the alarm clock until it rang out with a shrill. She was reluctant to break the kiss, but apparently Puck (for all his reputation) couldn't hold his breath nearly as long as Rachel could. "Thank you" she whispered.

"You're thanking me for kissing you? That's new." Puck rested his forehead on hers and tried not to get too excited.

"That too" she chuckled. She pulled her head back so she could see him better. "But I meant for everything, especially for being my friend. I know I can be difficult, but you have no idea what it means to me."

"Rachel," Puck cleared his throat. "You know I hate that lovey dovey shit so believe me when I tell you that I will always be there for you, no matter what." He put her face between his hands so he could look her in the eye. "I know that I can be difficult too because I fuck up a lot but I respect you. You take the brunt of everyone's insults and I can't imagine how hard that must be and I promise that I will _never _stand by and let them talk to you like that again. I give you my word." He wiped a tear that was falling from her eyelash with his thumb. Just as he went to kiss her, his phone buzzed with an incoming text. He reached over and quickly scanned the words. "You hungry?"

_That was random_. Rachel blinked rapidly, "Uh, yeah. Why?"

"Kurt wants to eat but no one will go with him" he climbed over Rachel (which earned him a glare when he "accidently" groped her breasts) and started to get dressed. He looked over and found Rachel still in bed. "Berry, come on. I'm fucking starving."

"I have a problem."

"What?"

"I have no clothes. I've been wearing your shirt all morning."

Puck stared at her with amusement. " 'All morning?' Jesus, Berry how long have you been up?"

"Since six." She flipped the covers off and headed toward the bathroom.

"What the fuck for?" Puck couldn't remember the last he was up that early. Well that one time at Santana's party, but that was like, two years ago.

"It's part of my routine" Rachel defended. She was in the process of brushing her teeth with the toothbrush the hotel provided when she saw Puck's boxers clearly for the first time. "Really Noah? Sponge Bob?"

"Hey, he's a sponge that can talk. Besides, I've seen some of your underwear and you got some Powerpuff Girls shit going on."

"There's no need to curse Noah. And how on earth do you know what a Powerpuff Girl is?"

"I do have a younger sister remember?"

"That doesn't answer my question." She narrowed her eyes at him in jest and saw him hang his head.

"My mom makes me do laundry ok?" Puck blushed slightly after his admittance. It wasn't badass to do something as girly as laundry. Rachel laughed and it reminded Puck of when she got drunk. That laugh was his favorite; it meant that she was feeling carefree. He made a mental note to get her into a club before this trip was over. But knowing Rachel, it was going to have to wait until Nationals was over.

"That's adorable" she noted. She saw his face fall into a scowl and it made her laugh harder. "Don't worry, it's our little secret. Just like my _one_ Powerpuff Girl pair of panties." Puck's smile made Rachel's heart skip a beat. She bounced her way to the bed and watched as he finished getting dressed; hating every second of him covering up his hard earned body.

Puck stared at Rachel, thinking of what clothes she could wear. It was true that the only clothes she had left were the ones that were stained with sweat and she couldn't wear his because they would fall off her. "Why don't you ask San or Brittany for clothes? They should be close to your size."

Rachel wrinkled her nose in uncertainty. "I don't want to look cheap."

"You won't look cheap" Puck chuckled.

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Have you seen what Santana wears? Actually, don't answer that. I don't want to know."

"Well it's not like you have a lot of choices here Rach. You need clothes, unless you want to walk around New York City in nothing but a shirt." Rachel seemed to be mulling over his words as she sighed heavily.

"Fine. But if I come out wearing something that comes from the red light district, you can't say anything" Rachel warned.

_Hm._ Puck thought. _Didn't think of that. _"You know what? I'll come with you." He grabbed his wallet and jacket and headed toward Satan's room.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"No fucking way!" Santana said sharply. "I don't want to catch some hobbit disease!"

"Santana please?" Rachel pleaded. She wasn't surprised to hear the Latina revert back to her old ways, as though their talk on the bench never existed. After all, Santana did warn her not to get used to it. "I promise it's only for the day." Santana glanced back at Brittany before deciding. She jerked the door so that Rachel could enter but stopped Puck at the entrance.

"What the hell San?"

"Give me a minute with Stubbles." She let the door close in his face before walking to Rachel. "Ok, Rachel. Here's the deal: I lend you some clothes and you take me shopping with you to pick out new ones."

Rachel's face contorted in an expression of pure confusion. "What? Why would you do that?"

Santana gave a non committal shrug before handing her a dress. "I owe you one" Rachel's face was still showing confusion. "Just trust me ok? I'll explain everything later. Now, try this on." She handed the petite brunette her tight, red dress that emphasized her curves and a pair of black flats. "If it doesn't fit, we'll try something else. Go!" A few minutes later, Rachel emerged from the bathroom. The dress wasn't quite as tight or short since Rachel was tinier both in size and shape but it still made her look good. "Damn Berry. You sure you don't want to switch sides?"

Rachel blushed deeply. She hadn't expected her to look good in the dress, especially after seeing how much Santana filled it out but she was pleasantly surprised that it fit really well. "Thanks for the offer but I'm good with the side I'm on."

"Now that's a shame." Brittany quipped.

Rachel was smoothing the dress out the entire she'd been out of the bathroom. "Don't be so nervous. He'll love it. In fact, I bet you won't even make it through the day without him fucking you."

"God, you and Noah are so vulgar!" Rachel reprimanded. "And no thanks. I'm not quite ready for that; although I do need to thank you for something later." She smiled at the tall Latina as she headed for the door. "Thanks for the dress and shoes." She left the room before Santana could ask anymore questions.

"Fuck Berry!" Puck breathed. He hadn't been expecting her to come out looking like that. "What are you trying to do? Give me a boner?"

"That wasn't my intent, and despite the vulgarity of the words, I'll still take the compliment" she beamed. "Now, are we going to eat or not? We only have a couple of hours before we perform and we need to practice at least a little."

Puck continued to gape at her as he led her lead down the hallway and stairs. "Don't worry babe, I'll get you back in time."

Kurt was waiting in the lobby and squealed when he saw Rachel. "Why are you dressed like a vixen at eight o'clock in the morning?"

"Do you like it? It's Santana's."

"Ah, that explains the vixen part" he observed. "And yes, I love it. Red is your color." He gave her a hug, noting that Puck hadn't taken his eyes off Rachel's ass the entire time. "Puck?" he snapped his fingers to wake him up.

"Oh, uh- hi Hummel."

"Well hello to you too. Shall we dine? Because I'm famished."

"Where we going?"

"I saw this little bistro down the street that's open. They have organic food as well as other stuff so I thought maybe we could go there?"

"Sounds good to me. What about you Noah?"

Puck heard his name and dragged his eyes from Rachel's body. "Uh. Yeah sounds great."

XOXOXOXO

An hour later, they arrived back at the hotel to find the Glee club lounging around in the foyer waiting for Mr. Schuester to talk.

"Ok guys," Will called out. "I know we don't have to perform until tonight but I thought we could go see the competition."

Rachel jumped up and down eagerly. "Vocal Adrenaline's performing in a few minutes so I say we go now."

"Do we have to?" Tina whined. "It's nine o'clock and they said that we didn't have to come to all the performances."

"And she wonders why she never gets any solos." Rachel whispered to Puck.

"Ok guys, let's go." The students filed out slowly to the street and began hailing cabs.

Rachel felt Kurt pull her into a cab. "I know what Jesse took from my bag."

"What was it?"

"The sheet music for tonight." Rachel couldn't believe it. No way could this happen to them twice. It wasn't possible.

"If he did, we're so screwed." There was nothing else for them to say. They just crossed their fingers and hoped to God that Jesse didn't do what they think he did.

XOXOXOXO

Rachel and Kurt arrived last and slowly made their way down the aisle to where Puck had saved them seats. "Bout time" he murmured.

"What'd we miss?" Kurt asked. The auditorium was filled with people chattering and mingling during the intermission so he didn't feel guilty if he was a little loud.

"Nothing much; just a group of girls singing some rap song." Puck hadn't been interested in anything but scanning the entryways for signs of Rachel. He noticed how agitated both singers seemed to be the moment they walked in. "What's the matter with you two?"

"Nothing." They answered together. Puck pursed his lips together, obviously not convinced at their attempt to lie.

"Kurt," Rachel whispered. "We have to tell them. If Vocal Adrenaline is doing our set list, it's going to be worse if it's a surprise."

"And what if they aren't? You're going to get yelled at for leaving your key in Jesse's room and I'm going to get yelled at for not paying attention to where my bag was." Kurt reasoned. "I say we wait to see." The moment he finished his sentence, the lights went down and the announcer introduced Vocal Adrenaline. "Here we go." He muttered.

Rachel wasn't tense until she heard the opening chords to As Long As You're Mine. She and Kurt looked to each other at the same time. She was so angry, that her nails were digging into her armrest.

"What the fuck?" Puck's brain registered the music a second later than Rachel. "They've got our set list!" When he saw Rachel's eyes bearing down at someone across the walkway, he followed their path. "That fucking asshole." He ground out. Jesse was staring back at Rachel with an arrogant smirk. It was all Puck could do not to walk over to where he was and punch the shit out of the kid. He saw Jesse's smirk turn into a lustful one and _that_ pissed him off. Only he could look at her like that. He grabbed Rachel's hand and squeezed to keep himself seated.

"We need to go, like now." Kurt whispered urgently. He and Rachel pushed Puck out of his seat. Kurt looked behind him to see the rest of New Directions storming out after them.

They got out into the foyer and didn't have to wait too long to see the doors fly open for the rest of the Glee club. Rachel and Kurt were standing off to the side as chaos broke out among their friends. Puck was standing in front of Rachel in case Santana decided to try something.

"What hell Rachel?" Finn yelled. "How did they get our set list?"

"Finn, I had the set list, not Rachel." Kurt defended. "Someone stole it from our room."

"Who?" Mr. Schuester demanded.

"Jesse" Kurt answered.

"Would you care to explain how our rival team just happened to have the sheet music?" Will tried to act calm but wasn't succeeding. Kurt couldn't blame him.

"He had my key." Rachel interjected before Kurt could explain. Rachel looked up and saw nothing but glares from everyone except Kurt and Puck. "After I got dressed, I went to talk to him and I accidently left it on his dresser before I came down yesterday."

"Well that's just great! Thanks to Rachel's obsession with Jesse, we're done!" Quinn huffed.

"We're not done" Rachel said in a determined voice.

"Vocal Adrenaline is singing our songs! And it's all because you left your key in Jesse's room! Do you not realize how royally screwed we are? All of our hard work is down the drain because of you."

Puck stepped in front of Quinn and glared. "You know something Fabray? Maybe you gave it to him." Everyone stared at him like he was crazy. He turned to Rachel, "He didn't confess did he?" Rachel shook her head.

"Rachel and I went to his room this morning to confront him and guess what?" Kurt stepped forward next to Puck. "He had no idea what we talking about. He looked as though we were telling him that Les Miserables had never existed."

"And you believe that jerk?" Finn asked.

"Jesse may be a great actor, but he's not a good liar." Rachel observed. "I don't know why he had Kurt's bag, but I know he didn't take the music." She lowered her eyes to stare at Quinn. "That means someone else did." She and Quinn glared at each other even when Mr. Schue started talking.

"We can't focus on that. What we need is a new set list and we need it now."

"I have a back up one." Rachel offered.

"What is it?" Kurt asked before Will could. Everyone was holding their breath, hoping that it wasn't all Phantom of the Opera.

"The duet and solo is from Moulin Rouge due to the theme we choose and I wrote a song on the way here."

"Who cares? Let's get started." Santana suggested. She saw everyone staring at her. "What? I wanna win this thing!"

"Ok, Puck and Rachel get started on the duet and Rachel- please tell me you still have that song somewhere."

"It's back at the hotel."

"We have a couple of hours before we have to perform but we gotta get that music to the orchestra. You think you can arrange it?"

"It already is."

"Wow" Will admired. _Thank God_. "Well, we have a lot of work to do so let's get going." The group ran out and fortunately, traffic was light.

Rachel jumped out of the cab before it even stopped rolling and ran as fast as she could to Noah's room. She flew down that stairs after making sure she still had her song intact in the notebook and handed it to Mr. Schuester. "I wrote a couple of copies just in case I lost it."

"Great, Rachel. Ok, Brittany, Mike? You think you can think of a routine?"

Brittany and Mike gave each other a worried glance but nodded anyway. "We'll try our best." Mike offered.

"It's going to have to be better than that." He handed everyone a copy and told them to at least memorize the words. "Puck, Rachel. Get started on that duet."

"Yes, Mr. Schue." Rachel grabbed Puck's hand and ran back up the stairs. She rushed into the room and put her Moulin Rouge cd inside the DVD player attached to the tv. "Ok, just listen to it first and get the words down. Then we'll work on the rest."

Puck listened Come What May for what seemed like the millionth time before he shut off the tv. "Let's try it acapella." Now he was even more nervous than before. At least with the other song, Rachel led in, but now it was him that had to get everything perfect.

The first couple of run throughs were rough because Puck couldn't get the timing down, but Rachel tried to help by showing him how to count it out. She knew that it was just his nerves that were getting to him and she couldn't blame him; he hadn't sung in a while and he had never led into a duet, much less in a competition. After several more attempts, Puck seemed to ease into the lead and got the timing just right so Rachel tried to fix the choreography. It wasn't her coming out first anymore, but him since he opened.

Puck was getting frustrated at the choreography. He was supposed to stand here, then move there and then stop and then move again. "This is ridiculous. I'm gonna fuck up I just know it." He groaned, moving to sit on the bed.

Rachel sat next to him and gently laid her hand on his. "Noah, contrary to what you think, you're not a screw up. You're a wonderful performer and I'm extremely proud to be singing this song with you."

Puck smiled when she repeated what she had said so long ago after he had performed his first solo. Her confidence in him boosted his self esteem and suddenly, he was ready to take on the world. "Ok. Let's do this." He pulled her up and started from the top.

XOXOXOXO

It had been a chaotic few hours as New Directions practiced and changed routines. Mike and Brittany did a great job of coming up with a simple routine for the group but something more complex for the pair of them and Rachel and Noah were set with their number.

The girls grabbed their outfits from Carol's room as the guys gathered theirs from Will and the headed back to the theatre.

Puck had gotten dressed relatively fast and was soon growing bored with the conversation in the men's dressing room. He made his way down to the no admittance part under the stage (and being the badass he was, he admitted himself anyway). As he explored under the stage, he peeked out and saw someone familiar. He scanned his brain for a name to identify the face. He knew that it was a famous person, because he'd seen her face on a picture in Rachel's room. He was trying to recall all the people Rachel was pointing in the pictures when her name popped up suddenly. He quickly made his way to the women's dressing room and knocked. He opened the door to see everyone dressed but Santana.

"Puckerman! Get out!" Santana hissed.

"Relax, Satan. It's nothing I haven't seen been before." He turned his attention to Mercedes, "Where's Berry?"

"I'm right here." She had been leaning against the far wall behind everyone.

"Come on. I wanna show you something." Puck grabbed her hand and let her out of the chatty room. He brought her down some stairs, a dark hallway, and around a few corners before stopping at his previous position. He carefully moved the curtain a little so Rachel could peek out.

Rachel wasn't sure what she was supposed to look for. "What am I supposed to be seeing here?"

"Look in the last seat on the right of the fifth row."

Rachel scanned the row until she found what he pointed out. "Oh my God." She breathed. "Patti LuPone." Puck smiled at her glowing face. "How did you know who she was?"

Puck shrugged carelessly. "You've got her face spread all across your bedroom, Rachel. Did you think I didn't pay attention?"

Rachel threw herself at him and gave him a hard kiss. "I've got to tell Kurt!" She grabbed his hand and started to run. "Um Noah? Where are we?"

"Just follow me." He led the way back to the guy's dressing room and Rachel burst through the door, scaring half the guys.

"Kurt! You're never going to believe who I just saw!" She didn't give him a chance to breathe before continuing. "Patti LuPone!" She jumped up and down with Kurt as he squealed out of delight.

"Where was she? Did you talk to her?"

"I saw her when Noah brought me under the stage. She was right there!"

"Oh boy." Kurt clapped. "Now I'm nervous." He chuckled.

"Don't be. We're gonna kill it." Puck assured him.

Mr. Schuester knocked on the door and announced it was time for places. Rachel gave Kurt one more hug and encouraged him, then took Noah's hand as they walked toward their place at the back. "Hey, Kurt" Finn called. "What's going on with Puck and Rachel?"

"If you can't see it, maybe you shouldn't ask." Kurt suggested. He watched as the couple walked down, holding hands and couldn't help but smile at them.

XOXOXOXO

"Just take a deep breath" Rachel gently said as she fixed Puck's tie. "Just watch me and don't pay attention to the other people." He blew out a breath and she could feel how fast his heart was beating. "Noah, you have to relax. You're going to hyperventilate if you don't take a moment to breathe."

Puck sucked in the air around him. She was completely off base as to why he was nervous; it wasn't the song- it was her. Singing the song with her and letting the words take over, he felt as though he were going to burst if he didn't say something. He looked down and saw her fixing his tie again. She looked so beautiful that he couldn't hold it in any longer. "I love you Rachel."

Rachel stopped messing with his tie and blinked at him. Last time a guy said that in this situation, it didn't turn out so good. Of course, she cheated on him with the guy who was currently telling her that he loves her. She inhaled deeply when she saw that he was completely serious and there wasn't a hint of anything less than love in his eyes.

Moments- both good and bad- were flashing in her mind and she realized that Kurt was right; Puck was full of risk and she shouldn't have ever fallen for him, but she did. They were all kinds of wrong for each other and being in a relationship wouldn't make sense, but maybe that's why it worked. And for the first time in her life, she knew the risk of being with him would be worth it. "I love you too."

Puck's cheeks were burning from smiling so wide, but he didn't care. Rachel had just told him that she loved him. He brought her in for one of those breath taking kisses just before the music started.

As Puck made his way down the aisle, Rachel quickly made her way back to her spot. She listened to him sing and it made her heart stop. She came out on cue and saw there was no one else around but Noah. They walked to each other and grabbed the other's waist, spinning them around so they landed on the opposite side of where they started out.

They sang to each other with everything they had until the music stopped. They were only a few inches away from each other, but the applause broke the spell. The rest of New Directions made their way on stage and the second song started.

After they finished the second song, the music for Rachel's solo started and New Directions stood in the wings.

Rachel made her way to the microphone that was placed in the middle of the stage and began.

I follow the night  
>Can't stand the light<br>When will I begin to live again

She looked over to the wings and let her eyes wander to Finn and Quinn before turning back to the spotlight.

One day I'll fly away  
>Leave all this to yesterday<br>What more could your love do for me  
>When will love be through with me<br>Why live life from dream to dream  
>And dread the day when dreaming ends<p>

She grabbed the microphone from the stand and slowly walked toward the audience, but didn't see them. Finn, Glee, McKinley, Lima, her past, future, Noah, Broadway; they were what she was really looking at.

One day I'll fly away  
>Leave all this to yesterday<br>Why live life from dream to dream  
>And dread the day when dreaming ends<p>

One day I'll fly away  
>Fly, fly away<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thank you so so much for all the reviews! I hope I got back to everyone who did review, but if I didn't I'm really sorry and to those who are anonymous, I say a HUGE thank you! I really appreciate everyone's input and thoughts about Puckelberry's relationship:) I'm still going to take it slow (even though it kills me to do so!) because I'm still trying to stay in character and we all know Rachel Berry isn't the sexual type...or is she? *enter dramatic music here* Ok, sorry for the ramblings.**

**Oh! Don't forget to review! It's what breaths life into the story:)**

Chapter 11

As the audience gave a deafening applause, New Directions took their place beside Rachel and gave deep bows. Puck pulled Rachel into a tight hug before they were escorted off the stage by the crew to prepare for the last performance of the night.

XOXOXO

Rachel was pacing in the room while everyone was sitting on the couches. The last group had performed and now all the Glee clubs were waiting for the judges' decision. No one even dared to speak. It was obvious that the tension was coming from the elephant in the room: Puck's accusation toward Quinn. If Puck was right, then there would be hell to pay for the blonde; but right now, they were just worried about their placement.

"Hey! It's up!" Rachel exclaimed. The group walked quickly down the hall where all the other Glee clubs were waiting. Mr. Schuester walked to the board and everyone held their breath. Rachel had a vice grip on Puck's hand and he was squeezing back slightly less strong, but still tight.

"What'd we get Mr. Schue?" Mercedes asked.

Will exhaled sharply and turned to his students, "Twelfth." Everyone turned to Rachel, waiting for her reaction.

Rachel glanced at Santana, who winked at her. "Twelfth place? Hell yeah!" The group erupted into cheers and hugged each other. They should've been disappointed, but considering that just that morning, they didn't have a set list, how could they not be ecstatic that they placed so high?

Santana pushed her way to Rachel and brought her in to a bone crushing hug. "What was that for?" Rachel asked breathless.

"Are you kidding me Berry? If wasn't for you, we would've been standing on stage with nothing but our breathing to fill the silence." She turned to Puck and gave him a hug too. "We're going out tonight so meet us in the lobby when I text you." She pulled away and went back to where Brittany was hugging everyone.

"All right guys" Mr. Schue hollered. "Let's get out of here and celebrate!" He clapped Sam on the back as everyone made their way through the other Glee clubs.

"Rachel?" Rachel turned around and saw Jesse standing in front of her.

Puck tightened his hold on the brunette's hand when he saw Jesse. "What do you want?"

"I want to talk to Rachel. Please?"

Rachel turned to Puck. "I'll be out in a minute." He started to say something but she cut him off with a kiss. "I promise." She watched as he glared at Jesse before making his way out of the theatre. "What is it Jesse?"

Jesse took a step forward, "I know you think I gave your set list to Vocal Adrenaline but I didn't."

"I know."

"You do?"

Rachel nodded with a smile. "I do. But I want ask you something about that and I need you to tell me the truth. Why were our bags in your room?"

"Because someone put them outside my door. I was gonna give them back the next time I saw you, but I didn't get a chance."

"What?" Rachel was completely baffled. "You mean they were just…outside your door? Why didn't I see them?"

"All I remember is that you were complaining about not wanting to be alone, I offered you my room but got rejected and you went off with Puck. Then I was practicing my routine of The Nutcracker and I hear a knock at my door, and there were the bags. I couldn't leave them out there so I kept them. Once I saw that one of the bags belonged to you, I looked through it and didn't find anything interesting so" he shrugged carelessly. "I kept it for the next time I saw you."

"What was in Kurt's bag?"

Jesse thought for a moment before answering. "A notebook with hearts surrounding the name 'Blaine'. Oh, and a poem. It actually was pretty good; very reminiscent of Longfellow, if not a little amateurish."

"And you're telling me the truth?"

"Rachel, I know I screwed up and because of that, I lost you. That's haunted me every day. I love you and I would never do that you, despite my intense hatred for your fellow Glee clubbers."

Rachel nodded and thought about what Jesse had told her. She didn't need to be told who gave him the bags but she couldn't put the timeline together. Unless… "When did you hear the knock?"

"About nine o'clock." Rachel scoffed and started to walk away. "Wait. That's it?"

"I don't think there's anything left to say." Jesse grabbed her and pulled her into a kiss. She pushed away just in time to hear Puck behind her.

"What the fuck man?" Puck bellowed. "Get your ugly face off her!"

"Noah!" Rachel stepped in front of him to stop his advancement. "Jesse, I do not appreciate what you just did!" She had begun trying to push Puck toward the exit but was failing so she walked back to confront Jesse. "You know that I don't have any feelings for you and I'm sorry if you can't accept that."

"You'll never get over me Rachel" he called. His words stopped her and Puck at the door. "I'm the only one who understands you." He turned his gaze to Puck. "He has the same amount of affection for you as he does for a stranger's goldfish." Puck stared at the floor, hoping his anger would subside. "You think he'll still be interested in you after a fresh faced Cheerio approaches him?"

Rachel walked up to Jesse and gave him a hard smack, leaving a mark on his cheek. "You have no right to say anything about him! You have no idea who Noah is!"

"But I do know Puck; and I know that's the guy who's going to hurt you."

Rachel scoffed and resisted hitting him again. "Jesse, we are over. And for the record, you don't who I am either." She walked back and laced her fingers with Puck's, dragging him out of the theatre.

XOXOXOXO

"Are we going to talk about what happened?" Rachel asked quietly. The dinner at the restaurant had been quiet and awkward between them; whether anyone else noticed wasn't at the top of Rachel's 'Things I Care About' list. Puck however, was.

Puck showed no emotion in his face. "Why?"

"Because I think you're mad and I know I am."

"Why are you mad? Because he kissed you? Or was it the Puck bashing he gave me?" Puck sneered. He moved to sit in a chair by the window as he loosened his tie.

"Both actually." Rachel didn't want to get angry at Noah; she learned a long time ago that sometimes, one person in the relationship should set aside their problem and listen to their partner. And even though she was mad at Jesse for what he did and said, she knew Noah was more hurt than angry- though he was trying his best to hide it. She could feel the tension rolling from his body and could tell that this wasn't a Rachel moment; it was a Noah moment. She let her hair down as she listened to what was really bothering Puck.

"I don't understand why everyone just assumes I can't have a relationship. Yes, I was a tad bit of a-"

"Slut." Rachel interjected.

"I was gonna say player but I guess that word works too" he pouted.

"Since when do you care about what other people think?" Rachel sat on the bed across from Puck.

"I'm not worried about me, Rach. I'm worried about you. I don't want people to see you as another notch on my belt because you're not."

"I know that. And I don't care what people think- never have and I never will. That's the benefit of being an outcast."

Puck put his hand over his face and let his head fall back against the wall. "I just love you so fucking much that it kills me to know that maybe you still think of me as the guy who knocked up his best friend's girl." Puck felt hands on his chest and looked to see Rachel start to straddle him in the chair. "Wh-" Rachel cut him off with a deep kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Noah," she breathed when they broke the kiss. "I'm not going to lie and say that I don't think about you with Quinn… or Santana… or Brittany…or the countless older women" Puck groaned and threw his back again but Rachel pulled it forward so he could look at her. "_But_ I also know you're not that guy anymore. Everyone makes mistakes and I am in no position to make you feel guilty for something you did a long time ago. I know you've thought about me and Finn- don't deny it because you know it's true, but if we really do love each other" Rachel still had a hard time wrapping her head around that idea, "then we both need to let the past go."

Puck sat silent, listening to everything Rachel was saying. "I never loved Quinn." Rachel gave him a curious look. "Did you think I didn't hear what she said in the elevator?" he could see her fighting back tears. "I know everyone thinks I did but it's not true. With her, it was the thrill of the chase. After she gave up Beth and all during the summer, we both knew the thing that held us together was the one thing neither of us was ready for."

"And what about me?" Rachel asked shyly.

Puck let out a heavy sigh and put his hands on Rachel's hips. She was still in her black dress from the competition and he noticed that the makeup she used to cover the bruise on her cheek was coming off, but she was still breathtaking. He gently kissed the sore spot but pulled back when he felt Rachel wince. "I never would've thought that I would end up falling in love, especially with you. And for Christ's sake don't ask me why because I have no fucking clue." He propped her head with his knuckle. "But I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life trying to figure it out- if you'll let me."

Rachel felt as though she were going to burst. No one had ever said anything close to that to her before and she could tell from his tone that he was one hundred percent serious. "Why do think it took us so long?"

"I don't know and I don't care. I'm just grateful that it happened before you went back to Finnessa."

"If he's your best friend, why do call him names like that?"

Puck shook his head, "We're not best friends and I don't think we ever were because we don't really like each other. Take you for example; it took us a long time to become friends- and even though you annoy the hell outta me with your non- stop talking about musicals, you've always been there for me; and I hope that you can say the same about me one day. But with Finn" He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's complicated, I guess."

"Well regardless of what's going on with you two, I'm glad you were there when I wanted to get a nose job; that definitely counts as you being there for me and I'll always be grateful for that."

"I still don't understand why you wanted to get one. Your nose is fucking hot and I hate that you think you're not beautiful because you're hands down, hotter than any other girl I've seen. Even when you have clothes on, you're fucking hot, although I like the naked view better." He winked as she blushed deeply. "Speaking of, why don't we get these clothes off you? You look like you're suffocating in them." He grabbed the flimsy material and pulled it off slowly so he could marvel at her toned body being exposed inch by inch. "Yep. You're definitely restricted in this."

Rachel had a love/hate relationship with the way Puck made her feel; on one hand, she was a control freak so it always irritated her that her knees went weak and her self control was practically at a zero; but then the way he would look at her made her feel as though she were the only person in the room and his touch lit her body on fire. When he told her that she was beautiful, she knew he meant it. That's one thing she definitely loved: his honesty. He never says things he doesn't mean; it may not always be nice, but at least you know where he stands.

She lifted her arms as he pulled the dress over her head. The cold air hit her suddenly and Puck could feel the goose bumps forming on her skin. He stood up, wrapping Rachel's legs around his waist as he made his way to the bed. Puck slowly lowered their bodies to mattress, making sure that Rachel was comfortable. "Are you ready for this?" he could tell from her body language that physically she was, but he didn't want her to make a decision that she would regret later. They had only just revealed how they felt a few hours ago but they still had a long way to go. She wasn't even officially his girlfriend and he was about to take her virginity; he thought about how she must be still one for a reason and he highly doubted that it was because she didn't want it.

"Yeah" Rachel saw something change in Puck's eyes and it worried her. This was the first time she was ready for this step, and here he was the legendary Noah Puckerman being hesitant. "A-Are you?" she grazed her nails over his mohawk and he groaned into her stomach.

Just as Puck was groaning into the flat surface of Rachel's stomach, an angry knock burst his Berry bubble. "Puckerman! What the fuck are you doing in there?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and Puck was giving a look that was a cross between annoyance and amusement. "I'm coming Santana!" he hollered back. "As much as I hate to say this, you better get dressed quickly if you don't want to experience the wrath of Satan." He opened the door slightly to see Santana with her hands on her hips.

"Jesus, Puck finally. I've been texting you for the past ten minutes."

"I was busy San. What do you want?"

"We talked Mr. Schue into letting us go out by ourselves so grab Yentl and let's go. We have to get to the club before the bouncers change shifts." Puck watched as she walked down to the elevator.

"Babe, you ready?" he turned and saw Rachel with the same dress on Santana gave her earlier and her black heels. "Wow. I'm gonna have to keep an eye on you in the club."

Rachel giggled and walked out the door. "Thank you for the compliment. So how exactly are we going to get in? We're not even eighteen yet." She laced her fingers with Puck's as they strolled down the hallway and into the stairwell.

"I think the less we know, the better." Puck lost his footing on a step and cursed in response. "I'm getting really tired of taking these fucking stairs all the time, Berry."

"You know how I feel about elevators Noah. I just know the moment I step in one that it's going to break down and I'm going to die from dehydration or suffocate from lack of oxygen."

Puck opened the door and followed Rachel into the lobby where he saw their teammates waiting for them. "You're so paranoid, Berry. You're gonna have to learn to relax. Fortunately I know some great stress relief techniques." He smacked Rachel's ass as she led the way, earning himself a soft slap on the arm.

"It's about time!" Mercedes sighed. "We've been waiting forever."

"Whatever. We're all here so let's go." Santana led the way down the street like a mama duck with a trail of baby ducks after her. When they arrived at the entrance, she grabbed Brittany from the back of the group and said something in her ear and even though no one else knew what she said, Puck had a sneaking suspicion that it involved a false promise of a threesome with a bouncer.

"I wonder what they're doing." Rachel commented as Santana and Brittany flirted with the large bouncer.

"Believe me babe, you definitely don't want to know." Whatever it was that they said, it must've worked since they were being escorted in.

XOXOXO

Puck had been to a lot of seedy clubs before, but this was definitely low. Despite the rest of the Glee club getting hammered, he only had a few drinks to loosen him up. He didn't think Rachel had meant what she said during Alcohol Awareness Week when she swore to never drink again but here she was- sober and staying away from the alcohol. "You wanna dance?"

Rachel glanced at the dance floor and saw everyone getting sweaty and panting. "Um, no thank you. Despite the many things in my life I wish to accomplish, getting some infectious disease from the undoubtedly toxic fumes coming from the many people who- judging from their appearances- haven't showered in a few weeks, is not at the top of my list."

Puck blinked, trying to remember if there were any words in that long sentence that he recognized. "So is that a yes or no?"

The tiny brunette rolled her eyes at him. "It's a no."

"What? I couldn't hear you. Did you say yes? Okay, well you asked for it." He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the dance floor. The music thumped the floor as Puck started to dance with Rachel and was pleasantly surprised when she started to get into it just as much as he was.

Rachel found that if she stayed away from the guy on her left that was emitting a disgusting smell and the girl on her right that looked like she just got out of a crack house, then dancing with Puck could be quite erotic.

When a new song would come on, Puck would bring her closer to his body and gently glide his hands up her thighs, letting his hands graze under the dress. After she lost count of the number of songs that they danced to, the sights and smells that repulsed Rachel at first had begun to encourage the "Santana" buried deep within her. She could feel everything- Noah's movements mixed with hers, the salty smell of their sweat, the sexual beat of the music- merging into a sensual environment that threatened to over take her controlled exterior.

The dance floor had started to clear to make room for Brittany when Slave 4 U came on; everyone was mesmerized as the tall blonde made her way around the large wooden floor. "Wow" Rachel said with admiration. She had the perfect view from her seat in front of the floor. "If Brittany's IQ was as brilliant as her dance moves, she would be the smartest person in the world since Einstein."

Puck nodded in agreement but Rachel knew he had no idea what she was talking about. "Who's Einstein?" he saw her give him a look, but couldn't tell what it was since the lighting was so low; he wagered that it probably bordered on annoyance.

"You know" Rachel turned in her seat to face Puck, who was standing next to her. "I never realized how great of a dancer you are. A guy who can sing, dance and play the guitar? That's such a lethal combination. How ever do you manage to juggle all those talents?" she said, feigning a mock tone.

"That's not all of my talents, Berry" he winked. "Hopefully, you'll find out sooner than later."

Rachel mulled over his words when she heard Rihanna's 'Only Girl' come on. She squealed with delight and took Puck's hand to lead him to the dance floor, taking the initiative to start the dancing.

Puck wasn't stupid, despite what his report card said; he'd listened to the song before so it didn't surprise him in the least that this would be the song that Rachel chose to express her feelings. He watched as she turned slowly between his arms, the different colored lights highlighting the striking facial features and her black hair that framed them. Kurt was right- red was definitely her color.

"You mind if I cut in?" the pair looked up to see Finn standing next to them with an excited expression.

Puck rolled his eyes but looked to Rachel for a response. "Sure" she replied. As Puck walked off, Rachel called out for him. "Don't go too far Noah because you're next." Then Finn was twirling her around as the next song came on.

Puck walked back to the bar where Santana was sitting with a drink. "Hey" he nodded. He took her drink and downed it with one gulp. He knew before it reached his lips that it was Jack and Coke.

"Why aren't you dancing with Stubble McStubbles?" She ordered another drink for herself and then one for Puck.

"She's dancing with Finn." He grumbled.

"Again, why aren't you dancing with Yentl?" she reiterated. _God! Do I have to do everything for him?_

"Cut the shit Satan and just say what's on your mind."

"Why haven't you sealed the deal yet? Is she pulling a Quinn and not giving it up?"

Puck chuckled slightly, "She's not like Quinn in any way so no, that's not the problem. In fact, we were getting close when I-" Puck took a long drink from his glass, not wanting to say what the problem was.

"When you what?" Puck continued to drink but Santana wasn't one for patience. "Get your lips off Jack and finish your sentence."

Puck slammed his empty glass back down on the counter out of frustration. "I froze."

"What?" Santana couldn't believe it. Puck was an amazing lay, even if he wasn't her cup of tea anymore. "I find it hard to believe that you have any problems getting hard. You practically walk around all day with a boner."

Puck shot a glare at her, but she didn't seem to care. "That wasn't the problem." He could tell he had peaked her interest. "I-" he glanced around to make sure no one could hear him before finishing. "I got scared all right?" Santana almost didn't hear him because his voice had dropped so low.

"Let me guess. Your hands got clammy, you couldn't breathe and you felt like you were going to pass out."

Puck rose a little from the wooden bar. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Because that's what happened to me the first time Brit and I had sex after I told her I loved her."

"Did you get over it?"

The hot tempered Latina seemed to be lost in thought with an answer. "You know how we always made fun of the people who said that having sex was better with feelings?" Puck nodded slowly to encourage her to continue. "Well turns out, that they had it right. Don't get me wrong, we still fuck like rabbits but- I don't know; it was like I was a virgin all over again. I guess you could say that she popped my intimacy cherry. But to answer the question you won't ask: the sex was way better"

Puck had never heard Santana openly admit anything but disgust for words like: intimacy, love, virgin (hell she'd rake Rachel over the coals for being one if she didn't respect the tiny star), monogamy, etc.; and those words were just as foreign to Puck as they used to be to her. "You like feeling like a virgin again?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"Don't be stupid. I don't feel like that anymore; it was just the first couple of times. And don't act like that's not how you're feeling because it's clear to my dead cat that she's popped your emotional cherry." She saw his face twist into several expressions and it made her laugh a little.

"Great. Thanks a lot, Satan. That really builds my confidence."

"Don't get so offended. I'm sure that after you fuck her in some random place that you're going to maintain your sex god status."

"She's not going to be just another random fuck." Santana looked at him with intense curiosity. "I love her. When she's ready, I'll be there."

"You love her?" Santana gasped. "Please tell me for all our sake that she knows this."

Puck nodded and couldn't hide the smile that spread across his face even if he wanted to. "I told her right before we sang."

"That explains why you guys looked like animals in heat on stage. What did she say when you told her?"

"She said she loved me too." Puck put as much pride as he could muster into that statement.

"Mazel Tov!" Santana clinked their glasses in celebration. "Now we just gotta work on getting her all sexed up for you."

"Not that she needs it, but she looked awesome when we went to Victoria's Secret and she tried on some lingerie. I had to think of dead kittens to stop from taking her right there in the dressing room."

"Really? Hm. You know, I'm going shopping with her tomorrow for clothes. Anything you want me to persuade her to buy?"

"None of that fancy shit. It takes too long to rip off." He and Santana chuckled as they turned around to watch Brittany dancing with Quinn and Rachel dancing with Finn.

"What are you going to do about Frankenteen?" Puck's glare at the quaterback didn't go unnoticed by Santana.

"Nothing. It's Rachel's decision if she wants to be friends with him, not mine. That doesn't mean I don't want to fuck up his face, but I would do anything to make her happy, even if it means putting up with Finnocence." Santana was still staring at Brittany when he turned his eyes back to study her. "Why are you taking Rachel shopping? You hate her."

"I want to talk to her about something. And don't ask, because I won't tell you."

Puck's face turned serious as turned his body to her. "If you're going to do something humiliating or pull some Carrie shit, I won't hold back because you're a girl" He warned. "I'm serious Santana."

"Serious about what?" they looked to see Brittany and Rachel walking toward them.

Santana and Puck mirrored each other's movements as they turned back to their drinks. "Nothing babe. Don't worry about it." Rachel eyed the liquid in Puck's glass. "You want to try some?"

"No thanks. I don't want to get thrown up on again." The three teens turned to Brittany, who was sipping from Santana's straw.

"Come on Rachel." Brittany pleaded as she held a glass for Rachel to take. "I promise to warn you if I feel sick."

Rachel took the drink and sniffed it. "It smells like Coke."

"But it tastes like Jack." Santana retorted. "Just drink it, Berry."

Puck was slightly amused when Rachel made a face after she took a sip. "It tastes gross." She coughed out.

"That's because you're not supposed to drink it sip by sip babe." Puck took the drink from her hand and set it down.

"Well let's see how fast you can drink yours then." She challenged. Puck smirked and downed his drink in one gulp. "Oh. Well that answers that question." Not to be outdone, Rachel picked her drink back up and downed it one gulp also.

"Whoa Berry!" Santana exclaimed. "I thought you were a lightweight!"

Rachel wiped her mouth and shrugged. "I don't have a gag reflex so it doesn't bother me. It's just the taste I hate."

Puck tuned out the moment he heard no gag reflex. Apparently that's all Santana and Brittany heard too. "You lucky piece of shit!" Santana hollered at Puck.

"I'm guessing that not having one is a good thing?" Rachel asked. This time, her innocence was genuine and Puck thought it was hilarious.

He pulled her into his chest and trapped her between his legs. "It's a _very_ good thing. Just don't tell any one else that."

Santana wanted to get into a drinking game but Puck forfeited when Rachel ordered a drink so she could participate. Due to her lack of drinking stamina and petite body size, Puck knew Rachel would need help tonight and if he were drunk, he wouldn't be able to do that.

Rachel had only four drinks before she began to start slurring her words, but continued to drink. Her dancing though was spectacular; she could feel Puck's dick kept getting harder with each thrust she did with her ass and it made her bolder as the night went on. She had completely lost track of time and before she knew it, she was being brought outside with the rest of the Glee club as the club was starting to close.

XOXOXOXO

Puck tried to help Rachel walk as they started back toward the hotel but it was useless. Santana, Brittany and the rest of the group- excluding Rachel and Quinn- weren't lightweights, so they were fine with walking by themselves. The atmosphere was fun until Quinn started berating Finn with what she thought were his imperfections.

"Finn had it right when he called her the angry drunk girl" Rachel observed. Puck looked behind him and saw Finn with his 'kill me now' face and laughed so hard, he had to stop walking so he could catch his breath.

Rachel didn't know what was so funny, but she laughed anyway which made her begin to feel dizzy. She started to fall over when she felt someone's arms catch her just as she almost hit the ground. Her feet lifted from the concrete as her head rolled onto a muscular chest._ It's either Sam or Noah_ she thought hazily. She rubbed her hand against the face and felt stubble lining the jaw area and knew immediately that it was Noah holding her. When he shifted her higher so that her face was by his neck, Rachel inhaled the faint scent of the cologne he wore hours ago. She opened her eyes and focused in on Puck's face. "You're so beautiful, Noah" she slurred.

Puck had assumed Rachel was asleep when he was walking with Sam because of the lack of noise coming from her. When he saw her falling, he barely had time to catch her before her head hit the concrete and then she didn't say anything so he thought that she must've passed out. As Puck was carrying her, he couldn't believe how light she was, for which he was extremely grateful because is she had been any heavier, he wouldn't have been able to carry her for as long as he did. As Puck was hitting the 'up' button on the elevator, he heard her say something about him being beautiful and it made him chuckle. "Well thank you babe. You're pretty gorgeous yourself." He walked into the elevator and pressed their floor's number. "Why do you think I call you My Hot Jewish American Princess?"

Rachel groaned as she felt the alcohol churning in her stomach. "I've always loved that nickname."

"You have? Well then, I'll be sure keep it for later use." Puck was surprised how short the elevator ride was. Maybe it was because compared to the last time he was in it; it took him nearly forty five minutes to get to the bottom floor. He heard Rachel groaning and saw that she was going pale. "You ok sweetheart?"

"I don't feel good." Rachel could feel the lump in her throat but she knew that they must've been really close to their room because Puck had stepped out from the elevator.

"I know honey but we're almost there, I promise." He struggled to get the key from his back pocket and rushed to open the door with the stupid keycard. He quickly kicked the door open as soon the handle was turned and headed for the bathroom just in time for Rachel to empty her stomach. Puck grabbed her hair and held it for her until she stopped heaving. "I'm gonna get a towel real quick ok?"

Rachel grasped Puck's hand and refused to let go. "Don't go. Please?" She still had her head in the toilet so he wouldn't see her face. Even though Rachel was mortified, she was grateful that he was there and held her hair back, otherwise she would've looked much worse.

"Ah, okay." Puck stretched as far as could for a towel while still holding on to Rachel's hand. He found that getting the towel was easy; it was getting the towel wet that turned out to be the hard part. "I'm gonna clean you up a little bit ok? You're burning up and you need to cool down."

"Don't ever let me drink again Noah." She tried to glare when he chuckled but since he was seeing her at her absolute worst and didn't seem to care, she was in no position to scold him. As he swept the towel over her cheeks and mouth, she hadn't realized how hot she was. She could see the concern in his eyes and it made her stomach flutter, causing another wave of heaving.

Puck had never felt more helpless than he did whenever Rachel would stick her head back in that toilet. He stayed by her side for the next three hours, holding her hair and wiping her face each time her stomach gave her a reprieve. She finally stopped just long enough for Puck to go and get one of his shirts to put on her. Undressing Rachel was easy since she only had a dress on and if she hadn't been so sick, Puck would've copped a feel. Before Rachel's next wave hit, he ordered some bread and a couple of water bottles from room service. "Hey Rach? Look at me sweetheart, you need some water."

Rachel brought her face from the bowl and saw Puck holding a piece of bread and a water bottle. "What are these for?"

Puck opened the bottle for her as he sat in front of her on the floor. He had put some towels under her so her legs wouldn't be cold, but she was still shivering. "The water's for hydrating and the bread is to soak up the alcohol. Believe me, you're going to feel a lot better in the morning because of these." Rachel took the water and started to gulp it down before he could stop her. He almost didn't get to her fast enough when the water came back up. After she was able to catch her breath, Puck held the bottle for her to drink. "Take sips, not gulps" he said gently.

Rachel alternated between nibbling on the bread and sipping the water. She started to feel better and told Puck to help her to the bed when she was seized by a violent heaving period. She must've passed out afterward because she woke up with her head on a pillow and a comforter over her and Puck. "Oh Noah" she groaned. "You don't have to stay here. Go to bed."

Puck leaned on his forearm and smoothed her hair. "Nah, I'm good here."

"You can't possibly be serious. It's a bathroom floor!"

"It could be the city street for all I care. I'm not moving so there's no use in arguing with me Rachel Berry. Just drink your water and eat your bread like a good Jew." She laughed for the first time since they got back and it made him feel better because if she was laughing, then she must feeling better also.

Rachel wanted to kiss him so badly at that moment but could only imagine how horrible her breath must smell. She put her hand on his cheek instead, "I love you. Thank you for staying with me."

Puck lifted up to kiss her forehead, which was much cooler than before. "I love you too. And you're welcome." He let her snuggle into what she called "the nook" between his arm and shoulder socket. He didn't want to put the weight of his arm on her in case she needed to get up quickly so he just rested his head on hers instead. "Good night Rachel."

"Night, Noah."

XOXOXOXO

Rachel woke up at noon to a splitting headache. Noah wasn't there, but she did see a note pressed to the door of the sink cabinet which was at her eye level on the ground.

_Hey Babe,_

_If you're reading this that means I'm still in line for your lunch. I know you have a headache so I put some aspirin on the counter next to the water bottle. Don't get up too fast otherwise you'll be tasting last night's dinner all over again. _

_Love, Noah_

_P.S. Don't worry about your shopping trip with Santana. She's passed out on her ass too._

_P.S. 2: You're really sexy even when you're sick._


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I am so sorry for not updating earlier but I had to babysit my nephews all week (I'm surprised I'm alive to be honest with you) and my volleyball league started this past week and that combined with my summer classes really limited my writing time but nevertheless, I finally got my alone time and pumped this out. **

**I know it's a relatively short chapter compared to how long the past few ones have been but hopefully it was the worth the wait; if it wasn't, tell me. If it was, tell me. Either way I wanna hear from you:D **

Chapter 12

Puck slowly made his way into the room and tried to close the door but it slammed instead. "Shit! Shhh!" He hissed to the door.

"Noah?" Rachel called out from the bathroom.

Puck walked into the bathroom with three bags in his hand. "I didn't wake you did I?"

Rachel smiled at how concerned he sounded. "No. I've been up for a while." She walked over and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Thank you for last night" she gave him a light kiss and walked back into the bathroom to finish getting ready. "I can't believe you actually slept on a bathroom floor."

He shrugged and set the bags on the dresser, "I've slept on bathroom floors before. Of course, none of them were this nice so it wasn't that bad. Plus, I like sleeping with you." He dove into the first bag from Burger King and grabbed a handful of fries. "How ya feeling by the way?"

"Much better. I haven't thrown up since last night but I am starving." As she searched through the bags and couldn't find anything but meat, she turned to pout at Puck.

"It's at the bottom" he said while biting a chunk off his hamburger. "You have no idea how popular vegan food is. I waited an hour in line for that."

Rachel pulled out her vegan sandwich and hopped on the bed next to Puck. "Well, it's delicious and well appreciated." She offered him a bite but he just gave her a quizzical brow. "Hey, I tried Jack and Coke last night." She pointed out.

"And you got sick." He said between bites.

"Hm. Good point." The two sat quietly as they ate their meals; both relished in how content they were with the silence that filled the room. Puck especially, had no idea Rachel could stop talking for more than a minute, but here she was- quiet as a mouse.

Puck finished his meal and threw his and Rachel's trash away. "If you're still hungry, then I got a bunch of other stuff for you."

"That was very considerate of you. But I'm full, thank you though." Rachel's phone buzzed with a text from Santana. "I gotta go, Santana's waiting for me."

"Ok, I got plans with the guys so I probably won't be here when you get back."

"That's great! You haven't seen much of the city have you?"

"I got to see you wear next to nothing in Victoria's Secret. I'm good." He winked before giving her a kiss goodbye. "See you later."

Rachel finished cleaning up and doing last minute things when she saw Puck's jacket on the bed. She put it on and hugged it close to her, letting his scent absorb into her skin. She quickly grabbed her wallet and keycard and headed down to meet Santana. Rachel was wary, but excited at the prospect of shopping with the Latina; they certainly weren't friends, and Rachel wasn't so unrealistic as to think that they ever would be, but every once in a while, the two girls would connect-if only for a moment.

XOXOXOXO

"What are you talking about Berry? This is perfect!" Santana had spent the better part of an hour getting Rachel to buy something skimpy from Victoria's Secret.

"I tried this on before and I hated it."

"That's not the point of lingerie" Santana huffed.

"Well, then pray tell- what is the point?" Rachel huffed back.

"Do you want Puck? And by want I mean do you want to fuck him?"

"Must you be so crude?" Rachel saw the impatience written on Santana's face. "Despite the vulgarity of the words, yes I do want to _make love_ to him."

"Then what's the problem? You love him and he loves you- for God knows what reason."

Rachel yanked the hanger from Santana's grasp. "I just- I want to wait a little while before we take that step. I don't want us to have this amazing night together and then when we get back to Lima, everything is different. I want to make sure we're really in love and not just saying it to each other because I did that once and look where it got me."

"Last time I checked, it got you Puck." Santana retorted. She took the hanger from Rachel and set it back on the rack. "Fine. Since you won't get anything sexy, I guess we'll just have to settle for your typical adult baby on acid look."

"Can I help you ladies with something?" a saleswoman asked. "Well, hello" she remarked to Rachel. "It's nice to see you back so soon."

"Thank you. Um, this is my…friend Santana." The tall woman nodded to the silent brunette. "I need some clothes."

"Well we have those. Follow me." Rachel and Santana were led to the clothing part of the store and started a pile for Rachel to try on.

While Rachel was going to and from the dressing room every five minutes, Santana talked to the stunning saleswoman. "Can I just say that you make me feel like a hobbit? Now I know how Rachel feels."

"I get that a lot. I wonder why her hottie didn't come back?"

"Puck? He's out with the guys. Plus, if it were up to him, she'd walk outta here with nothing but thongs."

"Yes, I did get that vibe from him. He's quite the looker. How'd they meet?"

"He threw slushies on her in the hallway at school" Santana quipped.

"I beg your pardon?"

Santana saw the confusion etched on the woman's face and suppressed a laugh. "He threw slushies on her every morning." The woman's expression deepened. "It's an Ohio thing."

Thankfully, Rachel was heading up to the register so the woman couldn't ask any more questions, for which Santana was grateful for. Soon, the two girls made their way around New York City and then to Manhattan to shop some more.

XOXOXOXO

Puck had been steadily texting both Rachel and Santana while he was out with the guys; Rachel had assured him that Santana wasn't doing anything bad and Santana was assuring him that she got Rachel to buy some sexy clothes.

"Man, will you put that away?" Sam called. "I'm sure Rachel's fine. Santana knows better than to mess with her now that y'all are together."

Sam's comment stumped Puck. Sure, they'd said 'I love you' and almost had sex but he couldn't call her his girlfriend until she agreed and vice versa. He needed to fix that soon. Puck listened to Mike talk about Tina and Sam talk about how he missed Quinn. They had invited Finn but he was under lock and key with Quinn. He saw a wave in front of his face and his mind woke from his thoughts. "What?"

"I asked how things are going with Rachel" Mike repeated. "You haven't said anything about her in like an hour."

Puck leaned against the back of the chair and sighed. He glanced around the restaurant they were at and saw a man bringing a box out of his jacket. "Look" he nodded his head toward the man as Sam and Mike followed his gaze. They all heard a squeal followed by an ecstatic "Yes!" which was cut off by a sweet kiss. Puck saw the woman's dark face glowing as she stared at the ring. He noted that the man didn't care anything about the ring, but was concentrating on his now fiancée. A round of applause went around the room as the teens turned back to their drinks.

"I can't wait to marry Tina" Mike said in a mock dream-like way. Sam and Puck let out a laugh through their straws. "What about you Puckerman?"

Puck mulled over the question. "We haven't been out on a date yet, man."

"Ah!" Sam sighed. "Notice how he deflects the question."

"I'm not deflecting" Puck defended.

"Come on, man. I wanna know what plans you got going for the infamous Rachel Berry."

"What are you talking about? We just got together."

Mike shook his head in amusement. "Yeah, but these girls man. They want a plan. They aren't satisfied with being just a couple. Pretty soon, they start talking about wedding dresses and where they want to get married." Puck and Sam leaned closer to listen to Mike. "They talk about where the honeymoon's going to be and how soon should we have kids and don't even get me started on baby names."

"Rachel's not like that" Puck tried but failed to convince himself of that statement.

"Trust me" Mike warned. "She's a girl and before you know it- bam!" his hands threw down on the table, shaking their drinks and plates. "She's making you look at wedding dresses while you're trying to play HALO."

"But," Puck blinked in horror. "We're only seventeen."

"Tina already has our honeymoon planned and what neighborhood we're going to live in. Don't think it can't happen because it always does."

Mike sipped his drink and resumed a previous conversation with Sam while Puck tried to wrap his head around Rachel becoming a bridezilla without even being his girlfriend. _Rachel isn't like that _he thought. Then a little voice reminded him, that yes, she is exactly like that. She did make her and Finn kitten calendars after all.

XOXOXOXO

It had been six hours since Rachel last saw Puck and she kept glancing at the door, hoping to see him walk into the room and kiss her senseless like he always did. Despite having a friendly day with Santana, Rachel had been horny all day so when she finally reached the room, she was in need of some serious Puck loving. After being greeted with nothing but silence, she started to sift through the endless amount of bags that she had accumulated throughout the day. She was already done with her packing and began to start on Puck's when she heard the door open.

As Puck walked into the room, he felt Rachel engulf him with her body and drag him further into the room with a kiss.

"I missed you" she breathed when he broke the kiss. She went to kiss him again but instead of his usual horny comment, he just walked away from her and sat on the bed. "What's wrong?" she asked as he took off his shoes. "Did something happen with the guys?"

"No. Why?" he didn't look at her as continued to undress.

"Well, I throw myself at you and you sit there like I'm nothing more than a bump on a log."

Puck could feel her eyes on him and it was beginning to annoy him. "Will stop looking at me like that?" he snapped at her.

Rachel was caught off guard by his tone. "I'm sorry." There was an awkward silence as he wandered the room, leaving Rachel to stand in the middle. "Guess where Santana and I went today." Puck shrugged as he walked into the bathroom. "Kleinfeld's" Rachel laughed.

"What's Kleinfeld's?"

Rachel leaned on the doorframe as Puck splashed water on his face. "It's an upscale bridal boutique." A flash of terror appeared on Puck's face. He dried his face and rushed past Rachel to put on his shirt and jacket. "Where you going?"

"Out."

"But you just got back!" Rachel was torn between being concerned and being pissed. She was really horny and all she wanted was Puck. He pushed past her and walked out to the hallway, leaving Rachel in a stunned silence. _Well, if he thinks he can just do that to me, he's got another thing coming._ Rachel ran after Puck, catching him just as he stepped into the elevator.

"Rachel, I just want to be left alone."

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on." She grasped the sides of the doors, preventing them from closing.

"Excuse me."

Rachel turned to see an elderly couple waiting for her to move. She stepped in to the elevator, "I'm sorry but this is full." She pressed the button and the elevator closed on the confused couple. She turned her attention to Puck, who looked furious. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

"Just leave it alone Berry."

"Ok _Puck_" she sneered. "I don't understand; six hours ago, you were kissing me and now you act like I'm a needy one night stand." Puck's face fell and Rachel's mind started reeling. "Oh my God. You regret you said you love me." Rachel's chest started to contrast the longer he stayed silent. She backed away from him as tears started to form.

"Rachel-" Puck started to say, but the elevator dinged and Rachel ran out. He grunted in frustration and started to chase after her up the stairs. "Rachel!" When he caught up with her, she had tears running down her face. Seeing her like that made him feel as though he had been stabbed.

"I knew it." She had started to hyperventilate as she tried to walk up the stairs. All the feelings left from having not one, but two guys telling her they love and then breaking her heart started bubbling at the surface. She had her hand on the door to Kurt's floor as she turned to face him, "I hate you."

Puck was pissed as those words left Rachel's lips. He ran to her as she walked down the hall and pushed her into the wall, trying to put his apology into a kiss. He could feel the anger in her hands as she tried to push him away but he grabbed them, placing them above her head. "Open your mouth." He demanded. She shook her head and continued to hide her lips as gave her his command. "Open your fucking mouth Rachel." The moment she tried to say something, he took his opportunity to capture her tongue with teeth and began to alternate between sucking on it and exploring her mouth.

Rachel felt the fight leave her as her kissed her with more fire than he ever had before. It was like he was fucking her mouth, giving her a preview of what she was missing out on. Her knees buckled when he began to move his free hand over her body. She felt him lift her up on the wall and her body began to cry out for every part of him. "Noah" she managed.

"I know" he growled out. He carried her to the elevator as she took her turn to suck on his ear and neck. Her fingers grazing his mohawk was driving him crazy and he just knew something was going to burst- it was a toss up between him and his pants. He could feel how wet she was and he thanked his lucky stars she hadn't worn jeans.

The moment the elevator doors closed, Puck propped Rachel onto the handle bar and tossed her legs over his shoulder. He roughly dragged her underwear down her thighs but they only made it to her knees as he assaulted her crotch. At first he thought he had hurt her but quickly realized that the moans she was making were ones of pleasure. He kept sucking and nipping at her as she pushed on his shoulders for support. She tasted so good, Puck could've stayed there forever and never get tired of it. He brought his tongue further in, eliciting gasps from Rachel and he knew that she was close.

Just as he was about to make her come, the elevator opened on their floor and Puck heard a throat clear. He looked to see Shelby standing at the doorway. Rachel blushed deeply and Puck moved to stand in front of her as she pulled up her underwear. He quickly maneuvered Rachel around to sidestep the tall brunette and as soon as the doors closed, he let out a loud laugh.

Rachel was horrified to see Shelby at that moment. "Noah, it's not funny!" she tried to talk but it was hard since a giggle was making its way up her throat and before she knew it, she was laughing as hard as Puck was as they made their way down to their room.

In the room, Puck saw just how many bags Rachel had lying around the floor. "Jesus, Rach" he picked up a random bag from the bed and looked in it. "Got enough clothes?" Rachel let out a giggle as she held up a small pink striped bag. Puck's eyes got wide when he recognized which bag that was. "Please tell me that's what I think it is."

"That depends. I'll tell you if you tell me what your problem was earlier" she said in a sultry voice.

Puck sighed heavily but gave in simply because he really wanted to see what was in the bag. "I don't want to get married."

"Ok?" Rachel was mystified. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Mike said that Tina has their honeymoon planned."

"And you don't approve?"

"No, it's not that. I just don't want you to go crazy thinking that we're going to get married the day after graduation." Puck softened his tone at the last part, hoping that she didn't take it wrong. As usual, he was wrong.

"Is that how you think of me?" Rachel was more hurt than offended.

"Of course not."

"You just don't want to marry me."

"I knew this was going to happen. This is why guys don't say shit like this. It's always one thing or another with girls. Either we're getting married tomorrow or not at all."

"Wow, thank you relationship yoda. I'm so glad you that decided to lump me in with other crazy girls." Rachel stormed out the room but this time, Puck didn't chase after her; she didn't go anywhere except outside the door. She wasn't angry at him, quite the opposite actually. She understood where he was coming from and looking back on her previous relationships, she couldn't blame him for thinking she was crazy; Finn would frequently get uncomfortable whenever she talked about a future life with him. Rachel made a promise right then that she wouldn't be needy with Puck…and perhaps a little less dramatic because clearly, he was immune to her fighting tactics.

Puck was in the shower when he heard Rachel come back into the room. He wasn't in the mood to go after her after their hallway/elevator moment. He sighed to himself as he remembered how she tasted and felt under his touch. Why couldn't she ever be dramatic in _those _moments? He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear the bathroom door open.

Rachel opened the curtain and saw Puck with his hands on the wall, and head bent down looking like the world was on his shoulders. She brought her hands around his waist, and felt him stiffen.

"Rachel?" he asked cautiously.

"Who else would it be?" she said with a giggle.

Puck turned and looked down to where Rachel was staring up at him…naked…without any clothes on. He got hard immediately as she brought her arms around his neck and brought him in to a kiss. "Not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing?"

"Apologizing." Rachel could feel how hard he was as she pressed herself closer to him. She grabbed his shaft and started to guide her hand up and down. Before long, she had him coming violently.

It only took Puck a minute or so to recover before he returned the favor. The water was hot, creating a thick steam around them and he realized how close he was to taking her right there. He also saw they were in the shower and it was going to make her even more uncomfortable. Instead, he just continued what he had done earlier. Rachel had been on the edge since the elevator but since she hadn't been able to come, her orgasm was still there- waiting to be released. Puck fucked her with his tongue, making her push his head further into her. He twisted his tongue inside her, hitting just the right spot. She half crooned, half screamed his name as she came hard and Puck thought it was the best song she ever sang.

"That was the best shower I've ever had" he smirked. Rachel smiled brightly as she grabbed his body wash. "What's that for?"

Rachel rubbed her hands with the body wash and started to rub Puck's chest. "It's not a shower unless you're clean."

Puck groaned as she wrapped her arms around his waist, and grabbed his butt. "Well, Ms. Berry, I have been known to be a dirty boy."

Rachel giggled as she continued to wash his body, admiring every inch of it. "Why does that not surprise me?" As she let the water run over him to clear off the bubbly substances, Puck grabbed her bottle of body wash and start to pour it in his hand. She smiled when he made a turning motion with his finger. She obliged as he made his way over her body.

"I love this scent" he said into her neck.

"I didn't know you liked French Vanilla."

"I always have" He moved her hair away from her shoulder. "When you would sit next to me in Glee, I could smell it all the way from your chair and it drove me crazy."

"Well I have to admit that when you walked by, I would stop to inhale your cologne." She let out a moan as he dropped to his knees so he could wash her legs. He was so gentle and it never ceased to amaze how different he was with her, as opposed to other people. Needless to say, it was a big turn on for her.

"Serious? Since when?" he put her foot on his knee, which forced her to turn to him, so he could see her face.

"When you would throw slushies on me. There would be a breeze as you walked by and after the initial shock of having something cold in my face, I'd close my eyes and inhale it."

"That's creepy and awesome at the same time" he reached up her thigh but stopped. "I'm sorry about the slushies by the way."

"You've already apologized for that Noah and I can honestly say that you have more than made up for those." Puck smiled but Rachel knew that he would probably always feel guilty for that. She kissed him gently and began to wash herself off.

Puck loved the view of Rachel standing underneath the water with the bubbles disappearing on her skin. He stepped out and grabbed a towel from the rack, wrapping it around his waist.

Rachel turned off the water and opened the curtain to find Puck standing with a towel open for her. "What a gentleman." She gushed, stepping into the soft white towel as he wrapped it around her. "Don't worry," she gave him a quick kiss. "I'll put that in the 'our little secret' category."

Puck chuckled as they started to dry off. Even though she had gotten pajamas earlier, Rachel still asked him for a shirt. He grabbed an old, faded black one that was ripped in some places, but Rachel looked stunning in it. It amazed him how she could wear the simplest thing and still look beautiful.

It felt natural to both of them that they slept together every night in the same bed while doing the most mundane tasks; Rachel would set the alarm while Puck got the bed ready. It was only then that he noticed something was off. "Hey, where's our clothes? You had bags everywhere like an hour ago."

"Your grammar is atrocious, Noah" Rachel noted. "But to answer your question, I packed them."

"Why?"

"Because we're leaving tomorrow. Honestly, Noah do you not pay attention to anything?"

"Well I didn't know that! Do I even have a plane ticket?"

"Mr. Schue has everyone's tickets." Rachel crawled into bed next to Puck as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I can't believe you packed your clothes that fast" he mused.

Rachel laughed into Puck's chest. "I've had lots of practice. My dads sometimes have to leave at a moment's notice so I've learned how to pack quickly for them."

"Do me a favor and don't ever mention your dads when we're in bed together. It's just weird." Puck heard his favorite laugh coming from Rachel and it made him chuckle. "I'm serious, Rach."

"As long as you never mention your mom." Puck groaned and let go of Rachel. "What?"

"I can't have your gorgeous legs rubbing me like that," he pointed to her legs caressing his calves, "while you talk about my mom." Rachel laughed harder as he made a disgusted face out of mock and tried to get away but Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck while he lifted them both from the bed. They both laughed as he tried to shake her off, but she was freakishly strong and refused to let go.

Eventually, she relinquished her hold and fell onto the bed, followed by an exhausted Puck. "Christ, Berry. You're heavy." Rachel scoffed and smacked him on the chest. "You know what I mean." He tried to give her a kiss but she refused. He couldn't go to sleep without a kiss, so he tickled her, making her laugh so hard that she had tears rolling down her cheek. "Will you give me one now?" She shook her head so he tickled her again, sending her into a laughing fit yet again.

"Ok! Ok!" she yelled in between breaths. Puck leaned down but instead of giving him a kiss, she licked him. Before he could tickle her again, Rachel burst from their bed onto the one across the room. She grabbed a pillow to block Puck's attack but it proved ineffective. He grabbed the pillow, tossed it like a rag doll and proceeded to torture Rachel. He dug his fingers into her side and began to shake her ticklish areas; she writhed with laughter under his fingers, making her roll them both all over the bed.

Puck was laughing just as hard as Rachel as he continued to punish her for the licking. Normally, he wouldn't mind it but that would be under different circumstances. She had started to plead for him to stop so he did. "Are you going to give me a real kiss this time?" Rachel nodded earnestly and when Puck bent down again, she met his lips with her own. He could tell she wanted to deepen the kiss, but teased her by pulling back before she had a chance to. "What time is our flight tomorrow?"

"Mr. Schue said we have to be at the airport by noon so I'm guessing it'll be around two."

"Good" Puck nodded. "Then I have time to do this!" he reached over and started a new round.

For over two hours, they went from Puck tickling Rachel to wrestling with each other. Puck let Rachel win a couple of rounds because every time she won, she'd give him a sympathy kiss.

They both became exhausted after a while and crashed back onto their bed. "I feel sorry for the people who have to clean up this mess" Puck stated.

"I wouldn't worry about that. You should've seen my room after they cleaned it up."

"Speaking of, have you heard anything back about who wrecked it?"

"No. It's the strangest thing. Mr. Schue told me at dinner one night that he asked about it, but the guy just said there was nothing on the tape."

"So your room got broken into by the Invisible Man?"

Rachel chuckled slightly, "Seems that way."

"Rachel?"

"Yes, Noah?"

"When we get to Lima, you wanna go out with me?"

"What?" Rachel pulled up on her elbows to look at him. "You want to date me?"

Puck followed her example and sat on his side. "I know I'm not exactly an expert in this department, but last time I checked, I'm in love with you. And usually, when that happens the happy- in- love couple goes on a date." Rachel gasped with surprise. "What?"

"I've never heard you say that you're in love with me."

"What are you talking about? I've told you that I love you."

"There's a difference. For instance, I love Kurt, but I'm not _in love_ with Kurt."

"Oh" he mused. "So does this mean I have to say I'm in love you instead of I love you?"

Rachel smiled and snuggled into him. "No. But now that I know you're in love with me, it makes it more potent when you say it."

"I meant it the first time I said it you know."

"I know. But sometimes I like hearing it all by itself." Rachel could feel Puck's anticipation so she turned her eyes to his face. "I'm in love with you too, Noah. And of course, I'll go out with you."

Puck gave her a kiss on the forehead and tightened his arms around her. "Wow. It does make it more- what was the word you used?"

"Potent."

"Yeah, that."

The two talked about upcoming plans for themselves, Glee, and their teammates until the early morning when they fell asleep in each other's arms.

**A/N: I know y'all want to know who broke into the room and what happened with the set list. I promise, all will be revealed in due time. **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! There's only a few more chapters left for this story, but I'm thinking of doing a sequel for the their senior year. It'll still continue to be about Puck, Shelby, Rachel, etc. because their story is so interesting that it should be expanded on. I really want to do that and get down to the nitty gritty of that complex situation. Let me know what you think! **

**Besides that little side note, let me first know what you think of Chapter 13. It'd make me so damn happy:)**

Chapter 13

"You're kidding."

"I just thought you should know. I heard about the accusation toward Quinn and even though we have our differences, I think the guilty party should be punished- not the innocent."

Rachel bit her lip and smiled curtly. "Oh, they will." She started to walk off until she felt Shelby's hand on her wrist.

"Rachel" Shelby said with a sad expression. "I'm sorry about the elevator. And for everything else that happened between us. I truly wish that we could've had a relationship."

Rachel ducked her down to collect herself before responding. "Are you coming back to Lima?" Shelby nodded slightly and Rachel smiled hopefully. "Then maybe one day we will."

XOXOXO

"Noah" Rachel whispered seductively in his ear. "Wake up." Puck rolled onto his stomach, causing the sheet to shift down, revealing his muscled back and the top of his pajama pants. Rachel took a moment to admire the sight of his torso. She slowly removed the rest of the sheet so she could look at his body at her own pace. She realized that her iron will had started to fade after their shower last night. The image of his naked body in the shower sent shivers down her spine; she could still see how the water dripped down his back and over his gorgeous butt. She wasn't normally a butt girl, but… _damn_. Puck shifted and Rachel moved to let him sleep in peace since they still had an hour or so before they had to be down in the lobby. Walking around the room to continue packing his stuff, she put her iPod on and turned to the country label. She was in a Shania Twain mood and she knew the exact song she felt like singing. As the music started, Rachel softly sang along.

If I were the moon, I could  
>catch your eye, I'm jealous of the moon<br>If I were the wind, I would  
>make you fly, I'm jealous of that too<p>

I wish I were the sun shining  
>on your face, caressing like a lover<br>I would wrap you up in a warm embrace  
>we'd be holdin' one another<br>I'm jealous of the sun  
>Oh, I'm jealous of the sun<p>

Oh, I don't wanna share you with  
>nothing else. I gotta have you to myself<br>Oh, I can't help it-I'm so in love-  
>I just can't get you close enough, no<p>

When the sun's on your skin  
>I can't hold it in<br>And I know it's a sin-  
>but I'm jealous of the sun<p>

I wish I were the rain runnin' down your  
>neck and drippin' from your fingers<p>

Then I could be the drops rollin' off your  
>back, I'd love to let it linger<p>

Oh, I'm jealous of the rain

Oh, I don't wanna share you with nothing  
>else, I gotta have you to myself<br>Oh I can't help it-I'm so in love-  
>I just can't get you close enough, no<p>

When it rains on your face  
>I almost can taste<br>Your beauty, your grace  
>I'm jealous of the rain<p>

When the wind's in your hair  
>the way it blows through the air<br>Oh, it's seems so unfair, yeah

When the moon's in your eyes  
>you seem to light up the skies, yeah<br>And I realize, I'm even jealous of the moon

Rachel yelped when she felt Puck's hands go around her waist. "I could listen to you sing that all day" Puck said with a grin.

Rachel blushed deeply. "I didn't wake you did I? I know I can be loud."

"First," he replied. "Don't ever apologize for being loud, it's a turn on." He wrapped her tighter and snuggled into her hair, which smelled like chlorine. "Second, I love hearing you sing, especially if it's a song like that. What is it?"

"It's from Shania Twain."

"That's why I've never heard of it" he quipped.

"I'm glad you're up. I really need to shower so finish packing your stuff and get ready. We have to be down there in an hour." Rachel wriggled out of his arms and headed for the bathroom while Puck followed.

"You just took one last night." He stood at the doorway and watched as Rachel started to strip. Why was he questioning this shower again? He couldn't remember.

"I went to work out with Santana this morning and she pushed me into the pool. Now, I have to get the chlorine out of my hair before it sets in." She stepped into the shower stall, letting the room fill with steam. "Noah? Can you bring my iPod in?"

"Got it already. Figured you'd be the kind to listen to music in the shower." He pressed play and exited the bathroom to finish the packing Rachel had started. It didn't take him long since Rachel had pretty done everything for him, so he took care of his and Rachel's last minute things. He heard singing Defying Gravity in the shower and it made him stop what he was doing. He remembered the sing - off she did with Kurt for the song and he had forgotten how beautifully she sang it.

Soon, Rachel was done and dressed in a matter of minutes, making sure everything was packed and ready. Puck was impressed; not many girls could just put on their clothes and leave. They usually had to blow dry their hair, put on ten pounds of makeup, and choose which clothes flattered them most- but, not his Rachel. She emerged from the bathroom with a gray mini skirt and bright yellow v- neck shirt, which made her olive skin seem darker. Her black hair was slick with water and slightly wavy. She didn't seem to care that her hair was in her face as she rushed around the room, making sure that they had everything; Puck noticed though and it made him smile from pure happiness. Sure, that sounded girly but it was in his head so no one else had to know.

XOXOXOXO

Rachel felt Puck's arm go around her waist while the other wrapped around her neck and her anxiety started to slowly drift away. She didn't mind flying, but hated that feeling of leaving something behind. She made a mental checklist in her head and continued checking things off.

"You got everything. We went over the room too many times to miss something" Puck reassured.

Rachel was thrown off guard. "How did you know that's what I was thinking?"

"Because I know you." Puck kissed her cheek and held it there for a moment until he was sure that she was relaxed. He made his way down to her neck and breathed in her strawberry shampoo. The mix between the French Vanilla and strawberries was intoxicating and he wasn't sure that he could keep his hands off her on the plane. He was grateful that Mr. Schue's ex was able to get them first class. There were only two seats together in first class and he made sure that everyone was going to switch once they were able to board. He thought back a couple of days ago, when Rachel caught in him with the stewardess and he knew that somewhere in that complex, over analytical brain of hers that she was thinking about it too. He tightened his squeeze on her waist and kissed her neck lovingly. "I love you."

Rachel smiled softly as Puck whispered in her ear. "I love-" she didn't get to finish before seeing a familiar face come around the corner. "Jesse."

Puck stiffened instantly, followed by confusion being etched onto his face. "What?" He strained to see her face and realized that she wasn't really talking to him. He followed her gaze and saw the curly haired singer sitting in a chair directly across from them. "What the hell is he doing here?"

Rachel couldn't believe that she had just said the word love and Jesse in the same sentence with Noah's arms around her. She quickly gathered her wits and turned in his arms to face him. She could tell his thoughts were on Jesse so she brought his face down to hers for a deep kiss.

Puck was no longer concerned about the fucker in the chair, watching them. Rachel was kissing him like she never had before and it was creating a problem in his nether regions. "What was that for?"

"I love you Noah Puckerman" Rachel said softly against his lips. "When you're in the shower," she gave him a light kiss. "I love you when you bring my iPod into the bathroom" she gave him another kiss. "I love you when you're snoring in your spongebob pajamas," she gave him yet another kiss, this time she lingered around his lips. "I love the way you cuddle into a pillow to keep warm, and I love that you sleep on the bathroom floor with me." She gave him a deeper kiss, eliciting a groan from him. That seemed to lift his spirits since he gave her a bright smile.

Hearing Rachel say those things made Puck feel like a chick, but he couldn't deny that it made him feel better. He pulled back from her lips and saw they were swollen from his own and it made him proud. "Nothing about my body?" he said seriously.

Rachel laughed and hugged her arms around his neck. She brought her lips to his ear and sucked on his earlobe. "I _love_ your ass." She sucked harder on the ear and could feel his arousal pressing into her stomach.

Puck smiled smugly into the air and it wasn't until he saw St. Ass shift in his seat that Puck realized he had been smiling at Jesse while Rachel sucked on his ear. She was driving him crazy and he needed her like, yesterday. Just as he was about to start pushing her toward the isolated family bathroom, the airport crew announced boarding. He positioned Rachel in front of him so he could hide the bulge in his pants and nearly blew his load when Rachel pushed back on him in the aisle.

XOXOXO

The flight wasn't full during the short leg of the journey, which was around three hours (damn detours!), but with Jesse sitting just behind Puck and Rachel, the large cabin felt stifling. There was still some tension between Quinn and the rest of the Glee club and with the added pressure from Jesse's prescence, Puck was just about ready to burst. Rachel hadn't let anyone see that it was bothering her, but he knew that it was just the actress in her. His hand was showing the real evidence of her feelings- it was turning blue from her grip.

Finally, at the layover, Puck couldn't hold it back any longer. He turned his head to Jesse and asked him something that had been bugging him since the day of the competition. "Hey" he said loudly, catching the attention of everyone else. "How'd you get our set list?"

Jesse seemed dumbfounded for a moment. He glanced at Rachel, then saw everyone except Quinn looking at him. "I didn't."

"Bullshit" Santana scoffed. The Latina made her way to the seat across from Jesse. "How do we know that for sure?"

"You don't. Rachel believes me and that's all that matters."

"Not to us" Mercedes retorted. "There's more to New Directions than Rachel."

Jesse gazed at her as though she had just told him that he was a female. "Only according to your sad band of miscreants."

"If you didn't take the list, who did?" Puck asked, frustrated that this questioning was taking a rabbit trail.

"I don't know. Like I told Rachel, the only thing I remember is hearing a bell ring and a blonde head."

"What?" Rachel shot from her seat to look at Jesse. "You didn't tell me that part."

"I didn't? Oh, well I did. After I opened my door, I saw a blonde head stepping into the elevator."

Rachel and Puck looked at each before turning their gaze to Quinn.

"What are you looking at Treasure trail?" she snapped.

"Hey!" Puck yelled. "Watch it Fabray."

Quinn turned to Finn, who was sitting there with his usual blank expression. She scoffed at his lack of defense and turned back to Puck. "What?"

"You don't have anything to say?" Rachel asked politely. "All evidence points you."

Quinn shrugged and began examining her nails. "I didn't take it."

"Then who did?" Mercedes piped in.

"How should I know?" the blonde asked impatiently.

"Because I think you took it" Santana stated. "You still hate Glee after all this time and you definitely hate the hobbit."

Puck turned to Rachel, who had been strangely quiet throughout the conversation. "What do you think babe?" The rest of the Glee club followed his example and turned to Rachel for her vote, which (if they were honest with themselves) was the only one that really counted.

Rachel peered at Quinn carefully. "I believe her."

No one was expecting that answer, least of all Quinn. "What?"

"I believe you" Rachel reiterated. "She didn't take it."

"Rach," Puck whispered, leaning into her. "You don't have to defend her. If you think she did it, just say so."

"I meant what I said Noah. I believe her." She lifted her gaze to meet Quinn's. Truth was, Rachel knew exactly what happened with the set list. Earlier that morning, she had a brief conversation with Shelby and now that the competition was over, the older brunette explained everything. Rachel's gaze bore into Quinn's green eyes and she knew that the blonde suspected her knowledge.

Puck sighed heavily. "Well then I guess it'll just be a mystery."

"The important thing is that we got to compete" Sam said gently.

Jesse smirked at the blonde boy. "That's right. If it hadn't been for Rachel, you would've come in last. How humiliating" He turned to his smirk to Mercedes, "Looks like there really isn't more to New Directions than Rachel."

"Stop sucking up man" Puck stated. "She's not coming back to you."

"We'll see about that" Jesse retorted.

"What is it with you? Not everything is a competition! Rachel isn't some trophy you can collect and play with until you get bored with her!"

"That's rich coming from a guy who can't keep his zipper shut" he said simply. He made a 'tsk' at Rachel, "I never would've thought you were that easy."

Puck fist flew into Jesse's face at lightning speed before Sam and Mike brought him back over the seat. "Don't you ever say that about her!"

Jesse was holding his bloody nose as a stewardess ran up the aisle. Mr. Schuester convinced her (who was clearly taken with the attractive teacher) not to call security because it was only a tussle between two boys and he'd take care of it- which he did; Puck was separated from Rachel and Jesse switched seats with Finn, who was on the opposite side of the plane. That arrangement only lasted until the plane lifted off; Mr. Schuester and the rest of the club were asleep in minutes so Puck quietly made his way back over to Rachel.

She was curled up in her seat with a blanket, her face looking out the window. Puck sat next to her, but didn't say anything. He wasn't sure if Rachel wanted to see him after what Jesse said and his reaction to it. Like always, he was wrong. He felt Rachel's eyes on his body so he risked a glance. "You know, if you keep looking at me like that, you're going to have to buy the merchandise."

Rachel ignored his comment and stared at him. She was so turned on by what he did that it frightened her; she was never one for violence but this was different. He had defended her, not just to Jesse, but to Quinn. She couldn't have cared less about the former, but the fact that he stood up to Quinn in front of everyone made her go dizzy with desire. He certainly had a strange affect on her. "Are you going to sit over there for the rest of the flight? Because I'm lonely over here."

Puck didn't need any more encouragement. He dimmed the overhead light and glided across the smooth seat. He lifted Rachel's legs over the side of him and leaned in for a kiss. He had expected a light one, but Rachel seemed to have different ideas. Before he even reached her lips, he could feel the sexual heat radiating from her. She searched for his tongue and soon the two were entwined in their world.

Puck nudged Rachel's legs open so he could settle between them, eliciting a gasp and then a moan from her. He smirked and kissed her again when he felt goosebumps on her legs. "You cold?" he whispered. With another full plane and Finn behind them, Puck had to make sure they were going to have to be as quiet as possible. Rachel nodded so Puck brought the blanket up to cover them both and resumed his former position. He brought his hand to her leg and started a sensual movement toward her center.

Rachel felt his erection against her and it made her moan, which was cut short by Puck's lips. When he broke the kiss, he made a shushing motion with his finger to signal her to be quiet. He started to pump his body into her, making her bite her lip hard to stop the groan struggling to come out. As he started on her legs, she reached inside his shirt but he brought her hands away from him. She quickly looked at him but only saw his eyes go black with intense lust and for a moment, she was afraid that she'd give it up right there in the plane seat. Instead, she settled for a shiver down the spine. He continued to make his way up her leg and she became grateful that the blanket was covering them. He glided his hand up her skirt toward the edge of her underwear, which were becoming wetter by the second and leaned her head back onto the pillow behind her. Rachel knew that she should stop him. And she was going to...really soon. Seriously, any second now she'd get her wits back and scold him for giving her such lustful thoughts.

"Rachel," Puck growled in her ear. "If you want me to stop, you better say it now. I won't ask again."

_How could he ask me that when he's got me like this?_ Her mind screamed. For some reason, her head decided to shake rather than nod, encouraging him to continue. Her hands took a life of their own as they ran through his mohawk and down his neck. He grasped her hands and brought them back above her head.

"Don't move" he whispered the command in her ear. He slowly kissed her way down her chest bone, leaving a burning trail where his lips had been. He gently grabbed Rachel's breasts and felt her nipples harden instantly. He pushed aside the flimsy material and cotton bra to fully cup them in his hand as he kissed her senseless yet again. Even though he would've loved to have Rachel's hands all over him, he knew that he needed all the control he could get and if she had been roaming over his body, that control would be gone and he'd take her right then and there- and he couldn't do that to her; she deserved better than her first time being in a fucking airplane. Rachel's eyes closed as he started moving his hand around the back of her shirt. "Open your eyes, Rachel. I want to see you looking at me when I touch you." This time, his command was gentle but a command nonetheless.

Rachel did as she was told and when her eyelids opened, she saw his eyes burning into hers. Her breath caught in her throat as he unhooked her bra with one hand. He slid it down roughly as he ducked below the blanket to grasp a nipple with his teeth. He sucked on it and could feel Rachel's reaction between her legs before a soft moan came from her. He paid equal attention to both breasts as she became unglued under his expert touch. He made his way back up her chest, palming her breasts again as he made tiny love bites up and down her collarbone.

Rachel couldn't help but arch her hips to his erection, wanting more friction. Suddenly, Puck hissed sharply and pulled away. She waited until he opened his eyes and held her breath as their eyes met. He was struggling with self control and she could see it as plain as day. It sent a surge of confidence through her that she had this affect on him; Finn and Jesse were never like this and it made her even more aroused. He was such a physical being and he knew how to bring that part out in her. If it had been any one else, she would've been repulsed at the intimacy she was experiencing, but with Noah it was different. It was as if she had been an empty shell her whole life and now, it was being filled with the brim with new experiences and feelings. Some scared her, but she fully trusted Puck. He would never hurt her, he would never betray her. They both were different people now, and perhaps that was the reason why they realized their feelings for each other. Rachel eyes flew shut as she felt Puck's hand between her legs and all thought left her; pleasure and intense desire took its place.

Puck slowly inserted a finger into Rachel's opening and was met with a thrust from her hips. "Rachel, look at me" he gently urged.

She did as he said and was rewarded with another finger being inserted. She gasped but kept eye contact with him. It was a completely different experience than before. The eye contact added to the pleasure building up in her lower abdomen and at the same time, aroused her almost to the point of pain. She never would've thought that she would be comfortable with eye contact during this type of intimacy, but she found that it felt natural to watch him, watch her. She felt his fingers curl and bit her lip in response, trying not to scream her pleasure.

Puck was amazed at the response from Rachel as he moved his fingers. He had never cared to have eye contact with a girl before while doing this so he was just as surprised as she was to feel the intensity between them. It was almost more than he could take. He tried to move his fingers around more, but she was so tight that it was almost impossible; he pushed the imagined feeling of him in her to the back of his mind. He wasn't sure she was truly ready for that step yet- though if he had really wanted to, he could go all the way right now. And had she been anyone else, he would've; but he had meant what he told Santana. Rachel was no random girl; therefore, she would never be a random fuck. Even if she never wanted to have sex (he highly doubted that), he's accept it.

Puck felt Rachel's tight walls, start to quiver and he knew that she was close. Flashes of the last time this happened crossed his mind and he resolved it wouldn't get to that point. Rachel had started to move more frantically against his hand and her breathing had started to quicken. He leaned above her and put a hard kiss on her lips. "Come on Rachel."

Rachel really didn't want to have the same experience as last time so she gave her control to Puck and as soon as she couldn't hold it any longer, she let go. At first, she thought she was going to wake the whole damn plane with her scream but found that Puck had silenced it when he kissed her. With his mouth and lips guarding her sounds, she released her full screams into him.

Puck never stopped his motions, leading Rachel into a second, less intense orgasm. He swallowed her cries of pleasure each time she needed it and after he felt her walls release their iron grip, he sealed his lips over hers. He kept the heel of his hand pressed against her so she could fully come down from her high. He saw the relief in her eyes followed by contentment and smiled slowly.

Rachel knew he didn't know that he did it, but when he smiled like that- it should've been branded as sinful. She was completely sated and yet, she longed for more. She needed him inside her…but not today. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the sun had set long ago. She smiled at Noah as sleepiness took over her.

Puck saw Rachel's eyes drooping as he rearranged their bodies. He gently placed the blanket over her and gave her a kiss on her cheek, receiving a smile in return. The moment he was sure she was asleep, he made his way to the bathroom to take care of his situation. A year and a half ago, he would've made sure that the girl reciprocated the favor, but he was willing to let Rachel sleep since he had just given her the most incredible orgasm. Watching her reach her peak was more than enough for him. A smile crept across his face as the image of her biting her lip and thrusting her hips against his hand flashed across his mind. In fact, several images came into play: Victoria's Secret, the black dress she wore as she straddled him, the shower, their first night together…but the one that was most vivid, surprised him. It was last night, while they were wrestling. The image of her in his shirt, her hair wild and she laughed as though she didn't have a care in the world; she looked completely animalistic. The image was enough to send him over the edge. He quickly cleaned up, grabbed some wet and dry towels to clean Rachel with and headed back to his seat. Rachel was in a deep sleep but that's not what stopped Puck; Finn was glaring straight at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you man?" he hissed. "We're on a fucking plane!" he whispered loudly.

Puck was impressed. He got Finn to curse. "Shut up before you wake her, Finnocence" Puck scolded.

"That was disgusting" the tall teen commented.

"And yet, you didn't try to stop us" Puck mused. He turned a full glare on his former best friend, "Just because you're not getting anything but insults from your girlfriend doesn't mean everyone else has stop acting like a real couple because it makes you jealous."

"You don't even know what half those words mean" Finn retorted.

"Rachel told me" he defended sharply. He gently lifted the blanket and started to clean Rachel. He was such an expert that Finn hadn't even realized he was doing it. Rachel moaned but Finn thought it was due to a dream, and Puck sure as hell wasn't going to correct him. "It's none of your business what Rachel does anymore Finn."

"You don't think I know that? I hate seeing her with you. It should be me." He mumbled.

Puck almost felt a pang of guilt for Finn, but he just couldn't find it in himself to give a damn. "Well, it's your own damn fault. You knew she loved you but you went back to Quinn instead for God knows what reason."

Finn seemed to think about his words carefully, "She didn't love me enough I guess. She didn't go to anyone else but you Puck."

"I went to her" he corrected. "I could tell she was hurting. I did what you should've done and I listened to her. I never meant to hurt you."

"But she did" Finn retorted. "She told me. She didn't love me enough to stay faithful."

"And Quinn?" Puck asked confused. "Rachel kissed me because she was hurt; Quinn slept with me because she liked me." Finn looked away, giving Puck a silent answer. "You may have loved Rachel, but I think you were in love with Quinn."

"What makes you say that?"

"Dude" Puck gave him a knowing look. "Why else would you forgive Quinn for lying and cheating but not Rachel?"

"I hate that I come second to you." Finn had decided to ignore Puck's observation.

Puck was taken back by that. "What? Dude, both girls I've liked wanted you. Quinn wanted you to be the father, and Rachel only dated me the first time to make you jealous."

Finn and Puck couldn't help but chuckle at the similarities between them. Finn sighed and leaned his head back against the seat, "You know, I really hate being with Quinn."

"I know" Puck said gently.

"I just don't want to be with anyone but Rachel." Puck nodded with understanding. "I hope you drop the ball, Puckerman."

"Don't challenge me man" he warned carelessly. "Like I told St. Ass, she's not a fucking trophy to be played with. Besides, she chose _me_. She loves _me_. And as long as she decides that she still does, I'll be here."

"You don't deserve her."

"No one does. The difference between when you say and if she says it, is that her opinion is the only one that I care about" Finn bit his lip and Puck drove his point home harshly. "I don't care what you or anyone else thinks. You aren't involved in this relationship, ergo (another word he learned from Rachel) your opinion doesn't matter."

Finn scoffed and turned toward the window, ending the conversation. Puck sat back in his seat and saw Rachel looking at him through hooded lips. He swallowed hard, not knowing her reaction to the conversation she heard. Before he could say anything, Rachel smiled softly and grabbed his hand. He followed her motions as she brought it close to her chest, making him lean his body on her. They shifted to where Puck was backed against the seats and Rachel spooned into him. To his surprise, Puck was actually quite comfortable lying in the seats. He felt Rachel shudder again and repositioned the blanket so she could have it all.

It seemed like only a few minutes that they had been asleep when the captain announced their descent. Puck gently woke Rachel and the two obeyed the stewardess' instructions. It seemed like a lifetime before they were able to exit the plane and get their luggage, but they finally managed to make it to baggage claim.

Puck helped the guys gather the luggage and carried as much of Rachel's as he could. For his efforts, Rachel gave him a kiss on the cheek so to him, it was worth it.

XOXOXO

Rachel checked her voicemail as the guys were loading the bags into the greyhound bus and found that both her dads left her two messages saying that she needed to call them as soon as possible. She quickly dialed her daddy's number and within seconds, he answered. "Daddy?"

"Rachel" he answered groggily. "I assume that you got my voicemail?"

"Yes sir. Is everything ok?"

"Yes, sweetheart. Your father and I just wanted to let you know that we won't be at the house when you get back. Your Aunt Sarah is in the hospital so we're staying in Chicago for the week."

"Is she alright?" She glanced to see Puck making his way down the aisle toward her, a look of concern came over his face as he sat down. She grabbed his hand for support as she continued to barrage her daddy with questions. "Is it serious?"

"We're not sure darling. We only got the call a few hours ago so I really know nothing except that it was a possible heart attack but you know how close your father and aunt are. We couldn't just say no."

"No, daddy" Rachel assured. "I completely understand. I'm not upset, I just hope Aunt Sarah's going to be okay."

I'm sure she will be. We promise to call as soon as we find something out."

Rachel finished her conversation and turned to Puck. "My dads are gone. Something happened with my Aunt Sarah."

"Is she okay?"

Rachel nodded reassuringly. "Daddy thinks it might have been a heart attack but he doesn't really know. They left this afternoon and won't be back for a week."

"A week?" Puck asked, incredulously.

"Yeah. My dad and aunt are really close so he wants to make sure she's okay and of course, daddy isn't going to let him go by himself in case its something worse."

Puck brought Rachel into a hug. "Are you okay?"

Rachel smiled and nodded into his chest. "Yeah. I'm just really tired but I don't like sleeping at the house alone."

"You've done it before?"

"Of course. My dads are constantly traveling so I'm usually alone. Though, I've never been alone for more than a few days but still" she slid from his embrace but kept close contact with him. "I don't like it."

"So you want some company?" Puck winked. Rachel giggled sleepily and he knew it was a yes.

"What about your family?" Puck whipped out his cell and called his mom. After a brief conversation, he shut the phone with a wide grin. "Nice conversation?" she asked sarcastically.

"Ha. Ha" he retorted. "My mom's got the night shift and my sister's at a sleepover. Looks like I'm all yours." Rachel beamed and gave him a soft kiss. It wasn't until she released his lips that exhaustion set in.

XOXOXOXO

The bus ride to the school seemed longer than the flight but it was nothing compared to the ride from the school to Rachel's house. Both teens were fatigued and it made the ride that much longer. Puck found himself driving a sleepy Rachel who refused to go to sleep while Puck had to drive. "It's not fair" she reasoned.

Neither was in the mood for the radio or chatter so the car was eerily silent. Finally, Puck pulled into Rachel's driveway and proceeded to haul her luggage into her house.

"Thank you. You can just set those there" she pointed at the entryway and Puck obliged. He set the bags near the door, except one that Rachel took with her up the stairs. He stood at the bottom of the staircase with his bag and watched her walk up. "Are you coming?" she called out.

Puck made his way as quickly as he could to Rachel's room and quickly changed into new boxers as Rachel emerged from her bathroom in one of his t-shirts and newly brushed teeth. She smiled brightly and motioned toward the cabinet on the bathroom wall. He saw that there were a few extra toothbrushes still in their packages. "Have a lot of guys over do you?" he looked around the exceptionally clean bathroom and found the toothpaste.

Rachel chuckled from the bathroom doorway. "Yes. It's a regular sleepover camp here." She walked out, followed by Puck. The covers were turned down so they both slipped under the covers and snuggled into each other. Rachel automatically went to the nook and Puck pulled her leg over his.

"I love you Noah" Rachel mumbled. She felt a kiss on her forehead at the same time his arm tightened around her.

"I love you too Rachel."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I decided to make this story a little longer. I can't help it, that's just the way my muse and imagination works. Hope y'all don't mind. These next few chapters are a deep foreshadowing (I'm really into that) of things to come. **

**Read and Review pretty please! I'll give my undivided love and respect if you do:)**

Chapter 14

When Rachel woke up in the middle of the bed the next morning, she wasn't quite sure if the romance part of Nationals had actually occurred or if it was some twisted fantasy that her subconscious had created. Everything happened so fast and Rachel hadn't really had time to process the whole thing. Did she dream that Noah Puckerman, of all guys, had declared his love for her? '_I mean,_' she wondered. _'That's crazy. Why would he do that?'_ Her mind began to try and separate the real events from the fantasies but it turned out to be harder than she thought. It all seemed so real! One of the elevator moments definitely happened, that much she knew; she just wasn't sure which one…

"What's wrong?" Puck mumbled sleepily, rolling Rachel into his nook.

Rachel screamed so loud that Puck scrambled on the sheets that were tangled around him, causing him to fall off the bed. "Noah Puckerman?" she screeched.

"Jesus Christ, Rachel!" he bellowed, shaking his head to clear the ringing. "What the fuck is wrong with you!"

"W-Why are you in my room?" she squeaked out.

Puck rubbed his eye sleepily. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh God!" she gasped, looking at Puck's t-shirt covering her body and then him, shirtless on the other side bed, hanging onto the mattress. "I lost it to you!"She whispered incredulously. "I must have been drunk or something. Oh God! Please Noah, don't tell anyone! I'd just die of embarrassment!" She had started to hyperventilate as Puck made his way over to her.

"Babe? What the hell are you talking about? Did you have a nightmare or something?" He gently sat her down on the bed and stood in front of her.

It suddenly dawned on Rachel that she must still be trying to separate a fantasy (a damn good one too) from reality. A few minutes of getting her regular heartbeat back, Rachel stared at the chiseled body in front of her."Wow." She let her eyes roam over his body appreciatively. "You know, you look much better in this dream than you did the last one."

Okay, Puck was definitely lost now. "Rachel?" He grabbed her hands and fell to his knees to look in her eyes. "You're not dreaming." He was barely able to hold back a laugh tickling his throat.

Rachel giggled as she put her hands on his neck and let them roam over his shoulders and arms. They felt so _real_. She gazed into his hazel eyes and found a combination of lust, love and passion swimming around in them. She sighed lightly and brought her fingers through his mohawk. "Why can't you ever look at me like that when we're in Glee? Is it because I haven't slept with you? I would you know if you would but pay me the slightest bit attention. Pathetic, I know but I can't help that you were than man who inspired the dictionary writer's imagination for the definition of sex."

Well, this is a Rachel Berry he could get used to. That was possibly the best compliment he had ever heard. He snorted softly and shook his head, deciding on how far he should let this go. "Rachel?" he asked seductively. He had no plans on deflowering her (he wanted her to be fully awake for _that_), but he was interested in what was going on in that head of hers- more specifically, he wanted her to answer a question that had been a thorn in his side since their first makeout session two years ago.

"Hmm. Yes, Noah?"

He had hard time trying to calm his member down when she moaned like that. "Do you remember when we first made out?"

"Of course I do. It was horrible." She giggled.

Ummm…ouch. Rachel Berry: 1; Puck: 0. "Do you remember when we were really getting into it and you pulled back?" She nodded her head and moved her hands down the front of his chest. "You said that you couldn't give yourself to someone who isn't brave. But that's not what you were going to say was it?" He pulled out his most seductive voice, letting the words take a life of their own.

"Nope."

"What were you going to say?" he urged gently. He rubbed her toned legs with a feather light touch.

"Why would you care about that?" She mused.

He shrugged but brought his lustful gaze to her brown eyes. "I'll do anything you want."

"Anything?"

"It's your fantasy. Your wish will be my command." It was official: he had to be absolutely fucking head over heels for this girl to sink this low for an answer.

"I was going to say that I couldn't give myself to someone who isn't Finn." DOUBLE OUCH. He wasn't going to lie. That shit cut deep. He saw his ego, which she had just massively inflated, fly right out the window and dive straight to hell. "But, that was such a long time ago and I don't want him in my fantasy."

Rachel Berry: 2; Puck: 1! He did a happy dance deep in his brain and could see his ego creeping back up through the window. "Why don't you want him in your dream?"

"Because he's not you, silly." He did another happy dance in his brain as said bruised ego blasted through the roof. "Does this mean I get my wish now?" she pouted.

"Of course, my Hot Jewish American Princess. What would you like?" he rubbed further up her leg with a more firm touch.

"Will you say my name?" She bit her lip at the corner, hoping he would comply.

Okay, that caught him off guard… and almost offended him. He's a sex god capable of sating every sexual fantasy a woman could come up with (and he's had his share of oddities). That's how he got his reputation. Out of everything she could've asked for and he would gladly do it over and over again, she wants him to say her name? "Rachel." He watched her face change into an expression of something he couldn't quite recognize. Happiness maybe?

"Will you say it again?" she asked quietly with her eyes closed.

"Why?" he asked. He was genuinely curious.

She shrugged heavily, indicating that she had probably had this conversation before in her dream. She opened her eyes so she could see him. "It makes me feel pretty."

He crawled on his knees (oh yes, he was definitely head over heels) to nudge closer in between her legs. He looked deep into her eyes and said her name as though it were a lifeline being thrown to him in his most desperate hour of need; as though her name could save him from death itself. "Rachel."

Rachel's doe eyes shined with love and her smile, though small, was the sweetest one she had ever given him. He decided he liked that one best. The two sat like that for a moment, just staring at each other, letting the moment last as long it could.

Unfortunately, Puck knew that Rachel probably wouldn't remember any of this- but he would. It was pretty much ingrained in his mind. Before he decided to wake her from her illusion of fantasy, he had just one more question.

"Rachel?"

"Yes?"

"What other fantasies do you have of me?"

She seemed to mull over the question thoughtfully. "Well, my favorite is the one where you take me to a secluded picnic area with candles, and a basket full of food. We try to see the constellations but you never seem to know what the word means." His snort was involuntary but she seemed to ignore it. "You sing Sweet Caroline, usually a couple of times because I love the way you sing it, and then you take me into your arms and tell me you love me. Then we kiss and you make love to me." She brought her face close to his and with a whisper against his lips she added, "Very slowly. You always go slowly so you won't hurt me since it's my first time."

Well… _fuck_. How was he supposed to forget that? If it was a wild and crazy one or a hot and sexy one then he could do something about it _after_ her first time. But now that he knew what she really wanted her first time to be like (and thank God it was him being her first!), an invisible standard had been set.

Puck sat there for a minute, trying to collect his thoughts. She yawned into her hand and Puck saw it as his opening. "Are you tired?" He heard her mumble something that sounded like yes so as she shifted her body further into the bed, he brought the comforter up to her chin. He kissed her forehead as she slipped into a light sleep.

He made his way into the bathroom and took a long shower to clear his thoughts. After he was done, he heard Rachel moving around on the other side of the door. How the hell was he going to face her after what she told him? Not that it was a problem, but he suddenly had a serious situation. He couldn't talk to Sam because the blonde haired boy was basically a virgin; Mike's only experience was Tina; Finn…well there was a reason why one of his nicknames is "Finnocent"; Kurt wouldn't have the first fucking clue about his situation and Artie's only sexual partner had been Brittany. Was there no one he could talk to? Santana briefly crossed his mind but basically, it was a _male _problem.

"Noah?" He heard Rachel's normal voice chime from the other side.

"Uh, yeah?" He wrapped a towel around his waist and exited. "What's up?"

Rachel let her eyes sit on Puck's muscular chest for a moment before looking him in his eyes. "I was just wondering if you were okay. You were in there for a long time."

He smirked at her as she fiddled with his shirt. Clearly, she didn't change and he was totally okay with that. He lowered his lips to hers and gave her a sultry kiss that left her speechless for a moment. "I'm just great." He lowered his eyes down her body and raised an eyebrow. "I love your pajamas."

"Noah Puckerman. Are you trying to seduce me?" She feigned innocently.

"Is it working?" He grabbed her waist, bringing her closer to his half naked body.

"Um" she mumbled quietly. It was hard to say a strong 'no' when he looked like that and had nothing but a towel on. At least when he wore baggy clothes she had a chance against his charm. "No?" Damn his sexiness!

Puck gave a loud "Ha!" and kissed her again. She gave him a scowl but he just touched her nose and kissed it. "Your nose is so big Berry." He teased.

Rachel gave him a punch in the chest despite the obvious humor in his voice. "I might have to punish you for that." She said, walking to her closet. She grabbed a pair of shorts- it was stifling outside- and a v-necked tank top.

"Oh yeah? How are you going to do that?"

Rachel smirked to herself as she gathered other clothes from her closet. "Which do you think would look best?" She laid out one of her shortest skirts, some short shorts and a longer skirt. She also pulled out some other tank tops and sexy shirts that she had gotten in New York.

Puck looked over the selections and selected the short skirt- a gray mini skirt from Victoria's Secret- and a sexy tank top that was sheer in the back. He got a serious hard on thinking all things he would do to her in that outfit.

Rachel nodded seriously. "You're sure? Once you pick it out I'm sticking with it. No changing your mind."

Puck sat back on the bed, letting the towel open right where Rachel would see something that he wanted her to take care of. "So what's my punishment? Please tell me it's a spanking."

Rachel laughed slightly as she lifted Puck's shirt slowly, knowing that Puck was probably watering at the mouth. "You'll see." She felt Puck's hand ghost over her stomach and swatted it away.

"What the hell Rach?" he cried. She gave him an evil smirk.

"Part of your punishment." She shrugged.

"I get to watch you undress but I can't touch you? I hate breaking it to you babe, but that's not a very good punishment." He lied of course. Watching her was a pleasure, but the best part was when he would be able to touch her afterward.

"I said it was _part_ of your punishment, Noah." She corrected.

Just as Puck began to ask what the other part was, there was a knock at the door. She gave him a look that he couldn't say no to. "I'll get it." He dropped the towel but felt Rachel smack his ass before he pulled up some sweats. He went to give her a kiss but she tucked her lips into her mouth and shook her head. "Don't tell me that's the other part?"

She gave him a smile. "Let's just say that it's a three part punishment." The knock got louder so she pushed Puck out of her room.

Puck sighed heavily and moved to open the door. "Finn? What the hell do you want?"

Finn shifted uncomfortably on the porch. "I'm here to pick up Rachel."

Uh, that was new. "Last time I checked, Rachel is _my_ girlfriend. So again, what the hell are you doing here?"

Finn didn't have time to explain since Rachel was coming down the stairs. His mouth got dry as he took in her tight, sexy outfit.

Puck was so NOT happy about this. "Rach? What the fuck is going on?" He examined her outfit-she looked so fucking hot- and recalled her words a few moments ago. "Let me guess: this is my punishment.

Rachel brought her lips to Puck's and gave him a quick kiss, but didn't answer his question. "Finn and I are going to talk."

"What the hell about?" he was talking to her but looked at Finn.

"That's not your business Noah." Rachel reprimanded.

"Yes it is! You're my girlfriend Rachel. And my girlfriend is going out with her ex boyfriend, who's still in love with her." He glared at Finn. "So it is my business."

"Noah, calm down." Rachel said softly. "I promise that nothing will happen." She saw him flex his jaw and look away. She grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her. "I swear on Barbra Streisand."

Was that supposed to make him feel better? Okay, it kind of did; she worshipped Barbra so she basically swore on her personal god. He nodded reluctantly but still flexed his jaw. Rachel nodded her approval and started to follow Finn before he pulled her back to him. He gave her a deep, passionate kiss- the kind that would leave her breathless- and smirked.

Well crap, now Rachel was horny. She smiled as her boyfriend (she felt a pitter patter in her heart when she thought of how he said girlfriend) let her go.

"Have fun." he smirked, turning to saunter back to the house. He was definitely angry, but there was no way he was going to let Frankenteen see that.

Rachel sighed dreamily as she watched him strut back into her house. God, he was so freaking sexy he would melt butter just by walking near the container. She heard her name being called by Finn so she tore herself from Puck's butt and walked to Finn's car.

XOXOXO

It wasn't until thirty minutes had passed that Puck finally stopped seething. He was furious that Rachel didn't tell him about her plans. Not that she would've. Damn girl was too fucking independent. Granted, that was part of what he loved about her- until it came to things like this. And what the fuck was with her clothes? He grunted at himself when he realized that, though Rachel had begun to rub off on him, it seemed like he had finally begun to rub off on her.

Puck had been so busy being angry, that it took him a while to focus back on his original dilemma. He had thought about talking to Mr. Schue about it, but that was nixed about the same time it entered his mind. He blew a breath out and leaned his body on the side of Rachel's bed with his body facing her window. Something glittered out of the top of his eye and after squinting his eyes until they hurt, he recognized it as a yearbook. He did a flip over the mattress, landing directly over it. Picking it up, he lazily thumbed through it and landed on a page filled with hearts. A lump of disgust with a hint of jealousy settled in his stomach as he stared at Finn's picture surrounded by a heart.

"She must've been on acid." He muttered. He searched for a pen and corrected Rachel's mistake. It was a yearbook from their sophomore year, but that wasn't the point. If she had a problem with it, well… she could just reason to his dick. "Speaking of." He mused. He flipped through the pages, looking for an idea when he saw a familiar face looking back. "Why didn't I think of that before?" He flipped his phone open and landed on the name he needed.

XOXOXO

Luckily for Puck, Matt didn't live too far away. They still kept in contact, but not frequently. It was harder than Puck thought to keep up with someone who had transferred. Matt had made new friends and obviously Puck had his hands full with Glee and trying to stay out of juvie again- which proved to be a full time job.

"Hey." Matt's voice chimed in as Puck brought him in for a man hug.

"Hey, man." Puck smiled brightly as he sat down across from his friend. "What's up?"

"Not much. Same old, same old." He saw Puck's bright smile- the one he usually had on to brag that he just had sex. "What's up with you?" he asked with a smirk.

"I'm dating Rachel." Puck sat in his chair a little straighter while smiling from ear to ear.

Matt scoffed loudly. "No, you're not." He thought Puck was joking but he saw that creepy smile his friend was wearing. "You serious?"

Puck smirked and nodded. "Yep. Told her I loved her at Nationals and we've been together since."

For a moment, Matt was silent. He didn't have an expression, no wavered breath, no blinking rapidly. Just sat there being silent. "Well," he finally said. He rubbed his hands on his jeans and took a drink from his soda. "Congratulations."

The two teens talked for a while after they finished their lunch about everything and anything.

"Can I ask you a question?" Matt asked after a lull in the conversation.

"Shoot." Puck said, wiping some ketchup on his jeans.

"Did you sleep with her?"

Puck took a long drink while Matt waited. "No."

"Then why are you dating her?" He didn't sound mean or condescending. He was genuinely curious as to why Puck was dating Rachel.

"Why can't I?"

"Puck." Matt said and leaned into the table. "I'm just curious. You've never shown the slightest interest in Rachel, even when you dated that one week."

Puck took a deep breath and exhaled. He caught Matt up about this past school year, including the Finn and Santana reveal and his subsequent makeout session with Rachel. "After that, I was into Lauren but when Rachel and I sang that song," he shook his head remembering that moment. "I couldn't help it. And then she got all crazy with the championship game. I mean she couldn't have gotten smashed! You know how tiny she is; a strong wind would break her."

Matt chuckled slightly. "Yeah, but that's pretty cool she did that." He saw a smile forming on the edge of Puck's mouth. "Is that when you fell for her?"

"Yeah." The mohawked teen sat back in his chair and sighed. "And what pissed me off is that Finn didn't even care. He didn't care that she might be crushed under a pile of guys. I almost smashed his face in when I heard he kissed Quinn."

"Why?"

"Because he knew Rachel was still into him and Quinn was with Sam. You should've seen Rachel after she found out. A zombie had more life. It was like her passion had just disappeared." Both boys sat quiet for a moment before Puck continued. "But then Nationals came, and everything changed."

"So, why haven't you slept with her then?"

"She's not ready. Which is cool…sometimes."

"Puck, come on. It's me you're talking to."

"Okay it fucking sucks." Matt laughed loudly. "But I respect her and her decisions. It's part of the reason I love her."

"So then what's the problem? And before you say there is none, I know there has to be a reason why you called me."

Puck shifted and looked around to make sure no one was looking. "Have you ever felt like a standard had been set when you had sex?"

Matt was definitely not expecting that. He thought back as far as he could, trying to remember. "Yeah."

"What was it?"

"You." Puck furrowed his brows together in confusion. "It was with Santana. We were getting into it and shit, and I kissed her neck. She pulls back and says that she likes it when you kiss her on the other side. Needless to say, it was difficult to enjoy the rest of the night."

"Me?" Puck asked incredulously.

"There's a reason for your legendary sex status Puckerman. I learned just how legendary you were that night."

"Dude," Puck said horrified. "I'm sorry."

"Forget it." Matt waved his hand, dismissing the sympathy. "So Rachel said something about your reputation?"

"No. She was asleep when she told me her fantasy."

"So the problem is…?"

"It's impossibly perfect!"

"That's kind of the point of a fantasy." Matt pointed out.

"I know, but hers was sweet and romantic. I don't know if I can do that."

"Maybe that's why she chose that one." Matt wasn't sure where that came from, but it seemed that his filter was off today. Normally, he would've said something more badass or at least manly.

"What do you mean?"

"If she picks something that she knows you'll psych yourself out of, she won't have to worry about it. So if she's a virgin and she's secretly terrified of a guy whose reputation reads like a page from the Karma Sutra, of course she's going to try and dissuade you from deflowering her." Puck sat with his mouth agape. "Trust me, my girlfriend works for a shrink. She hears it all."

"Why would a girl do that? That's bullshit."

Matt shrugged carelessly. "I guess maybe she'd feel like she would be compared."

"What?" A light bulb started to flicker in Puck's head.

"Well, I'm just thinking about how I felt when Santana said that to me. I can only imagine how a girl like Rachel feels dating a guy who's been between more legs than a gynecologist."

"Hm. Rachel does have self esteem issues." Puck pondered. Maybe Matt was on to something.

"I could be completely wrong though. You said she was asleep so maybe it was just a really girly fantasy that a really girly girl had." Okay, that was a lie. Matt may not have heard a lot from Rachel during this past year, but he couldn't imagine her being that much different from when he did know her.

"But what do I do if the reason she has it, is because she's scared?"

"I'm not a girl," Matt reasoned. "But I would think that there's nothing you can do. They seem to have their own timetable of recovery for things like this. Personally, I told my girlfriend that she was beautiful and gave her everything from flowers to jewelry."

"Did it work?"

"Nope." He saw his friend's face fall. "But what did work, was when she saw me either do or say something when I didn't know she was there."

"What was it?"

"I don't know. I've practically begged for her to tell me, but she won't. Whatever it is was I'm glad I did it."

"I'm confused. What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that sometimes, it's not what you say or do with her. It's what you say and do when she's _not_ around."

That light bulb was getting much brighter in Puck's head. After that, the conversation turned lighter. Matt bragged about his girlfriend who was a psychology major at Ohio State and Puck went into detail about Nationals.

When Puck and Matt were walking out after they paid their bill, Matt offered a suggestion. "Hey Puckerman." He called out. "Why don't you just show Rachel what she's missing?"

"Oh she's already seen me naked dude."

"I didn't mean that," Matt laughed. "I meant, let her know in a creative way that she shouldn't be afraid when it comes to something she doesn't know about."

"Well how the hell am I going to do that?"

Matt shrugged and walked toward his car. "I'm sure you'll think of something."

XOXOXOXO

Rachel shot out from Finn's car and slammed the door so hard the vehicle shook. The talk had been going well: they talked about their feelings so they could both feel resolve. Clearly, Finn wasn't feeling very resolved when he declared that Rachel was only dating Puck to make him jealous…again.

A very heated argument ensued directly in the middle of the park. Rachel had chosen the spot because it was public and there were lots of people. That turned out to be a mistake. Everyone saw the argument and Rachel was so furious that she stomped her foot.

Finn had tried to understand what she saying but the words were too long.

"Have you always been this dumb?" she snapped. That sent another flurry of disputes between them until they were both hoarse. Finally, they had reached an impasse and Rachel demanded Finn take her home.

She was fuming all over again just thinking about it. The door was just within reach when Finn grabbed her arm and spun her to him. He kissed her hard, thinking it was passionate but it clearly wasn't since Rachel smacked him. Hard.

"How _dare_ you!" She screamed. Rachel couldn't recall ever being this mad before and found it hard to stop all the fury threatening to erupt.

"I-I'm sorry but you look so hot in that outfit and I-"

"So you kiss my girlfriend?" Rachel and Finn's head snapped to where the voice was coming from and found Puck clenching his fists a few steps away.

"Noah." Rachel said shakily. She prayed that he heard her reaction and not just saw the kiss.

Puck saw the mix of anger and pure fear in Rachel's face. He didn't know what she was so afraid of, but - damn it, she was his girlfriend and he loves her. "Finn, get your hand off her. Right now."

"It isn't what it looks like." Finn rushed.

"What it looks like," he said with a growl, "is you still holding onto my girlfriend's arm." He stepped between Rachel and Finn, forcing the tall teen's arm to fall weakly.

"No-" Rachel started.

"Rachel." The warning was unmistakable in his tone and it startled Rachel. He could feel the flinch in her touch on his back and it made him feel guilty. "Leave, Finn." He said low. Fortunately, Finn backed away, leaving Rachel standing behind Puck.

Rachel grabbed her keys and turned the lock with shaking hands. She left the door open but didn't hear Puck come in. Glancing out to the porch, she saw Puck still outside with his hands in his pockets. "Noah?" she whispered.

Puck turned and saw Rachel standing in the doorway, looking so beautiful that he felt his heart constrict and his lungs close. His body was aching to touch her, fueled by the emotions he felt when he saw Rachel scream at Finn for kissing her. It reminded him of what Matt had said about doing and saying things when no one's looking. Her scream at Finn sent a rush of pride through him that she was his girlfriend. He took the few steps into the house swiftly and swept her into a passionate kiss, kicking the door closed behind him.

As much as she loved these kinds of kisses, Rachel was too furious at Finn. When Puck broke the kiss for air, Rachel took her opportunity. "Not now."

"What?"

"I'm so mad at Finn that I can't think. I don't want to be thinking about him while you're kissing me." Rachel's voice dropped the longer the sentence became.

"What happened? Did he try something?" Puck could feel anger building back up. "I swear to God, if he tried anything-" Rachel burst into a fit of laughter. "It's not funny Rachel!" Her laughter continued, making him start to chuckle despite his emotion.

"Y-yes it is." She gasped between laughs. She wasn't sure what really set her off, but whatever it was, got a hold of her funny bone and wouldn't let go. Soon, they were both leaning into each other as their laughter started to subside. Rachel sniffled and walked up the stairs, still laughing followed by Puck.

"So what was that kiss about?" Puck asked after a few minutes. He sat on Rachel's bed and watched her change. She had answered him, but he was too focused on her body to concentrate on what she was saying. "Huh?"

Rachel strained to talk over her throbbing vocal chords. "I said that I got mad at Finn because he said that I was only dating you to make him jealous."

"Are you?" His expression was completely aloof.

Rachel on the other hand, looked completely horrified. "Absolutely not!" she croaked out.

"Just checking." He teased.

Rachel barely registered his comment when she started to vent about the Finn situation. She didn't mean to start rambling, but she just couldn't hold in her anger anymore. And if anyone could take her drama, it was Noah.

Puck watched as some big words and a loud voice came from his tiny girlfriend. Rachel had went from hollering, crying, and pacing, to punching the shit (as much as she could) out of him so she could release her anger.

Normally, Rachel would be disgusted at the violence she was doing against Noah, but she couldn't deny that it made her feel better. She was amazed that he just stood there and took hit after hit on his chest, letting her release all the bent up frustration about anything and everything: Finn, Quinn, her mom, Beth, Jesse, and maybe even a little bit of the old Puck. She was surprised how many issues she was still hurting over.

Rachel wasn't aware just when the transition happened, but when it did, the anger turned to passion. And after letting her hand rest on Noah's chest, passion quickly turned to extreme lust. She took in his calm demeanor barely concealing the intense fire she could feel radiating off his flesh. Her skin wasn't fairing much better as it was hot from the motion of constantly moving; her body was swollen because it was so turned on.

The air crackled with electricity and neither person moved as their bodies reacted to the strange current surrounding them: Rachel's breasts ached for Noah's touch, causing them to swell at the mere thought of his lips and hands on them. Her underwear was soaked and she was pretty sure she could feel her "Berry juice" starting to run down her inner thighs.

Standing in front of Rachel, Puck wasn't fairing much better. His chest hurt a bit from her hits, but it was his penis that was hurting the most. At that moment, he could honestly say that he had never been turned on in his whole life. He watched her chest heaving up and down in her lacy white bra and he was fully aware that she was wetter than the Pacific Ocean. But he could also feel her fear. It was flowing through her veins, mixed in with her blood.

Okay, Rachel knew that she probably was going to lose her virginity tonight because the way Noah was looking at her made her feel like she was a lone antelope in the midst of a very, _very _hungry lion. Truth be told, it was a turn on because it was so frightening. Yet, Rachel still didn't know if she was truly ready for that step. She silently cursed her stupid self esteem and then licked her dry lips.

Puck couldn't remember how Rachel's legs got to be wrapped around his waist, but there they were. He ripped her bra off with one hand and took a breast in his mouth hungrily, eliciting moans from the petite brunette. Rachel was as loud as she could be with her sore vocal chords but the noise came out guttural as she helped him get her underwear off.

The mattress sunk with their weight as he lowered them onto the bed. Rachel was desperately grasping on to Puck's head, pushing it closer to her body as she thrust her hips into his large erection. She desperately needed more of him and she needed it _now._ She grinded into his jeans and let out a grunt of frustration at the amount of clothing between them.

Puck felt Rachel's wetness surround the area that she placed herself on and smiled to himself. He loved that he did this to her. The fact that her juice had started to run down her leg made him get another huge surge of pride. He let go of her breast and kissed his way down her flat stomach but skipped over her center. He grabbed her left leg, which was coated and started a slow journey upward.

Rachel moaned and could feel herself getting even more wet as Noah did one long lick from her knee up to her inner thigh. She was growing increasingly frustrated at the lack of touch to her core, but she couldn't have cared less since he was starting to lick her other leg. Goosebumps coated her legs and body, but it wasn't just from the air. "Noah" she said hoarsely. "More. Please."

A smile formed on his lips as Puck licked his way back up Rachel's right leg. This time he continued until he arrived at his favorite place on earth. He tossed Rachel's legs over his shoulders and settled between them as she started to moan his name.

She knew he was fucking her. It didn't matter at the moment if it was with his tongue. He slowly licked her lips but then thrust his talented tongue into her. She cried out at the sheer pleasure. Her mind was literally a hazy place where the only thing that existed was the pressure building within her. "Oh Noah!" she groaned deeply. The pressure had reached a boiling point when he grasped her breast with one hand and stroked her leg with the other all the while letting his tongue work its magic. With one hard thrust of his tongue into her, she let herself go off the edge, screaming his name.

Puck couldn't help the arrogant smile ghost over his face after Rachel came down from her orgasm. He pulled out and licked her clean. She smiled with her eyes closed and moaned with pure happiness. He kissed her collarbone and made his way up to her mouth, mimicking the same motion inside her mouth that he had just done with her most delicate area.

Rachel deepened the kiss and let her hands wander down his chiseled torso and into his pants. Not wanting to break the contact, she used her feet and legs to push his jeans down after she had loosened them. She reached inside, grasped his shaft and inhaled a deep gasp. He was _huge; _much longer…and wider than she remembered. She began to stroke him lazily at first, getting used to the feel of him again.

"Rach," he breathed roughly into her neck. "Faster. You gotta go faster. Please." Yeah, he knew he was begging, but fuck it- he was hurting bad. Fortunately, Rachel complied and made her motions quicker with each stroke. She had begun to alternate between squeezing at just the right pressure, making him moan as he rested his head against her shoulder while rocking his hips into her hand.

He felt her suck hard on his earlobe and whisper, "You make me so wet Noah Puckerman." Apparently that was all it took to send him over the edge. That and Rachel swiped her smooth thumb over his head while squeezing at just the right moment. What a combo. He had a flash of those commercials for K-Y. The kind that shows the man and woman in bed, a flash of whatever thing they compared their orgasm to, and then back to the couple- sated and exhausted. _Fuck K-Y _he thought. _Rachel's in her own league._

For a moment the only thing they could do was breathe. Neither of them had ever come so hard before, especially Puck. He hovered above her, letting his forearms take the weight of his body while Rachel tried to remember her name.

"Wow." She finally broke the silence with a little giggle. "Is that how sex feels? If so, then what are we waiting for?" she teased.

Puck let a little laugh escape. Oh yeah, he was a stud. "No. It's better. And I'm waiting on you, babe." He chuckled. "Just give me a second." Though he winked, he was dead serious. The load he blew pretty much turned his brain to mush and his body felt hollow. Well, that last part could be because he desperately wanted his penis to be between Rachel's legs, not just his face. But besides that, he had zero complaints.

XOXOXO

After cleaning themselves up, Puck and Rachel made their way down to the kitchen to grab something to eat.

Puck was eternally grateful for one of Rachel's father being a carnivore. There was steak and other assorted meat eating items that he could cook as well as Rachel's nasty ass vegan food. He thought the picture of them two, standing next to each arguing over which is better tasting, must look hysterical.

Rachel's defense for animals fell on deaf ears as she watched Noah cook some bacon. So instead, she opted for some vegan pizza.

"What the hell is the point of pizza if you can't have cheese and meat on it?" Puck challenged.

"Noah," Rachel defended. "It's still good. Plus I don't have the lives of baby cows and piglets on my conscience."

Though Rachel ignored his comment about his opinion on baby anything, she was offended at his snort of derision. She tried to chastise him but he had kissed her senseless again until the bacon nearly off the fire alarm. "That's not fair!" She pouted. "You know what that does to me. I don't have anything like that in my arsenal of weapons."

"Babe, what are you talking about?" Puck chuckled. "You make me hard. I would've thought you would know that by now."

"That's not saying much, Noah. Everything makes you hard. I want you to get kissed senseless sometimes too."

"First," Noah said with a mouthful of bacon. "I would never say that word to describe what you do to me. It's not badass or even a guy thing to think."

Rachel rolled her eyes dramatically. "And second?"

"I get a serious hard on just thinking about you sometimes, Rach." He explained carelessly. It never ceased to amaze Rachel how he could say such romantic things (at least in his mind) with such a careless attitude. She liked it actually because she knew he wasn't saying it just to sound good. He always says what he means, compliments included. They just tend to be a bit crass sometimes.

"Really?" Rachel's brightened at the idea. She took a big bite from her pizza. "What do you picture?"

Puck gave a light shrug while stuffing some more bacon into his mouth. "Certain outfits you wear."

"Elaborate, please."

"Well, the first one that comes to mind is the leather outfit from your rock mash-up. And of course your Britney outfit was sexy as hell. If you ever wear that at school when you're with me , we won't leave the janitors closet."

Rachel scrunched her nose. "The janitor's closet? That's disgusting. I find it ironic that the cleaner's room is the dirtiest."

"You get my drift Rachel." Puck snorted.

"What other outfits?" Now her interest had been peaked. She made mental notes as Puck started to list off his favorite skirts –the shortest ones of course- and outfits that she wore.

"And of course I'll always have fond memories of the football jersey you wore."

"You're kidding." Rachel scoffed. "The football outfit? That turned you on?"

"Babe, I legit got an instant hard on. As did every guy."

"You played with an erection?" Rachel questioned.

"Of course not! I fisted before we played."

"That's grotesque."

"Better than a squirt during a tackle." Puck laughed at Rachel's dramatic expression.

XOXOXO

After a lively discussion about the championship game and Puck trying to explain the rules of football, the two made their way into the living room. Rachel let Noah select a movie and instantly regretted it.

"It's a classic!" he defended.

"Noah, that movie is not even ten years old. How could it be considered a classic?"

"Because there's sex. What else do you need in a classic?" he deadpanned.

Rachel sighed and gave in. 300 just didn't interest her, hence why she'd never seen it. She tried to get into and didn't think she would, until the love scene came on. She sat up a little and watched Noah out of the corner of her eye.

Puck could feel the tension in Rachel's body when the sex scene came on. True, Lena Heady was hot, but Rachel was sexy. He grabbed Rachel's chin and brought her in for a kiss. The distraction worked as she snaked her hands up his shirt and hooked them under his shoulders. He groaned into her mouth as she pulled herself up to straddle him. And there went his dick, yet again. He let his hands rub over her legs and butt, stopping at the latter to appreciate it. Though both wanted more, they never got the chance. The phone had begun to ring.

Rachel moved to answer but Puck kept a firm hand on her body. "Noah. I have to get that."

Puck sucked her pulse point gently. "Let the machine get it." He growled out while letting his hands roam through her hair.

Had Puck known who was on the other side of that call, he would've ripped the fucking phone straight off the wall.

But he didn't know. And when that answering machine beeped, his life would never quite be the same.

**A/N: Any ideas what it could be? Or who it could be? And the reveal of what truly happened in New York is rapidly approaching. I'll give you a clue though: What Quinn said on the plane is the truth...just not the whole truth.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Whoa I am so sorry about the delay but life called lol. I hope you like this chapter it despite the relatively short length. I wasn't expecting the story to go this route and frankly, I'm surprised it did. If you don't like it, I understand; not everyone likes the same thing. If you do like it, that's fantastic. Either way, let me know.**

**And I don't know who watches True Blood here, but the song in here is called I Wish I Was the Moon by Neko Case and it sounds beautiful. I saw the scene in True Blood with the song and I knew that was what I needed. If you've never listened to it before, do yourself a favor and youtube it (or if you want a visual;), watch the scene between Eric and Sookie but imagine Puckelberry instead)**

Chapter 15

The answering machine beeped and a familiar yet unwelcome voice started to make its way into the room where Rachel and Puck were enjoying each other.

"Uh hey, Rachel." Finn's voice was laced with nerves. The anxious voice seeped in to the living room, making both its occupants stop their activity. "I know I probably shouldn't be calling because everything that just happened, but I can't sleep. I feel really bad about what I said. I just want you to remember what we had and how special it was. We loved each other and that just doesn't go away. The necklace I gave you on Valentine's Day meant something and I thought you really meant what you said about not caring about Puck. Now, I wish I had taken you back when I had the chance." There was a heavy sigh and a slight pause before the sad voice continued. "I don't care about Quinn or Santana or anyone. I just care about you. Anyway, I thought you should know. Oh! And don't tell Puck about this. He wouldn't understand what we had. Well, night Rach. I hope you sleep well."

There were two things simultaneously going through Rachel's brain after Finn hung up: 1) _Shit!_ And 2) _Oops!_ ; Neither of those sounded like they were making their way into Puck's vocabulary at the moment. His whole body was frozen solid and Rachel was pretty sure that it was either full of rage or it was full of hurt. Both of those were crappy choices.

The two sat silent on the couch for what seemed like an eternity before Puck broke the silence. "Rachel? What the fuck is he talking about?"

His tone scared her, not because it was mean, but because it was so cold that Rachel could almost see the ice forming on his breath. "Let me explain-"

"Explain what? That he was right about you doing this to make him jealous?" He shifted from under her, leaving Rachel to sit by herself.

"But I'm not. That was a long time ago Noah. I mean, it was Valentine's Day! Where are you going?" she saw him walking up the stairs to her room so she followed quickly.

"I'm going home" he bit out.

"But why? I told you it was a long time ago!" The desperation in her voice was apparent, even to her.

"That doesn't matter Rachel! You said it because you meant it."

Rachel swallowed hard. "Ok, I admit it. I said it but that was only because I-" she bit her lip to try and steer her thoughts another way.

"Because you what Rachel?"

"Nothing. I-I don't remember why I said it."

"That is such bullshit and you know it."

Rachel rubbed the goose bumps forming on her body. When had it gotten so cold? "I don't understand why this makes you so mad. You knew how I felt about him so of course I was going to say anything to get him back."

"Would you do anything to get him back too?" Rachel turned her eyes to focus on the wall. "Let's face it Berry; you'd do anything to get what you want. Hell, you're the most ambitious person I know. How do I know this isn't an act?"

"I guess you don't" she snapped. Rachel smoothed skirt to calm herself down. "That's where trust comes in. You must trust me Noah."

He finished tucking a pair of jeans into his bag and sighed heavily. "I did Rach. I've told you everything and you held out on me."

"It was over three and a half months ago!" It struck her how much things had changed in that time.

"Exactly! You've been in love with Hudson since forever and a day and three months later after you say that you don't care about me, you're telling me you love me? Who the fuck does that?"

"Well you have never, and I mean _never_, given me any indication of how you felt until this past week! You don't think that messed with my head?"

"What do you want Rachel? You want freedom or a relationship?"

"I don't know. Do you want a relationship with me or my vagina?"

Puck went from icy cold to flaming mad in a matter of a few words. "Have I pressured you to do anything you were uncomfortable with?"

Rachel bit her lip and turned her gaze downward. "No. But that doesn't mean I still don't feel pressured to live up to the sexual hype you've managed to acquire in your sixteen years of life!"

"Slow down! You know I can't understand when you talk fast and use big words!" He took a deep breath and closed his for a moment to calm hismelf down. "I have tried my best to show you that I love you. I've said things to you that I've never said to anyone else."

"And what exactly did you think was going to happen when you said those things Noah? That I would just fall on my back, spread my legs, and beg for you to take me?"

"That's what you did Rachel! You may not be easy like the rest of them, but you're just as desperate!"

"Oh that's rich coming from a man who's fucked everything from here to New York…literally! To be honest, I'm surprised you haven't died yet from lack of sex! And then I throw myself at you and you say no! Do you have any idea how that feels knowing that you throw yourself at someone who loves you but he doesn't want it!"

"I can't win with you Rachel! Either I'm a man with a ravenous appetite who's out to steal your precious flower or I'm a cruel boyfriend because I don't want to pressure you!"

"I never fought like this with Finn," Rachel mumbled, "or with Jesse!" Though the words weren't there, her meaning was clear: Finn and Jesse were her backups.

The topic of Finn was the equivalent of gunpowder on a flame- small but containable. But adding Jesse to the fight was like pouring a gallon of gasoline laced with c-4 in a raging fire.

Instead of blowing up like Rachel had expected (because that was the common reaction), Puck walked straight toward her and bent his head to where he was eye level with her. She felt the anger rolling off his body and it was generating some serious heat but his stare was enough to chill her to the bone.

When he spoke, Rachel could feel herself shrinking to the size of a green pea. His voice was thick with fury. "You ever say that name to me again and we are through. Do you understand me?"

"It's my life Noah. You can't control what I say." It took every ounce of courage for her to say that.

"This isn't a negotiation Rachel. You ever threaten me again with that and it'll take more than a song and those beautiful brown eyes to get me to stay."

"What about Quinn? What happens if you bring her up?"

"Have I ever used her against you?"

"You just said that I was desperate like her! How is that not using her against me?"

"It was the truth. And because I didn't imply that if things didn't work out that I'd go back to her. There is no back up plan for me Rachel. You're it for me. If it's not you then it's not anyone. Maybe you should think about that the next time you try to throw those two pussies in my face."

He gave her a hard look before he left the house. Rachel was left standing in her room and burst into tears before the front door had slammed shut.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"No!" Rachel cried into the phone. Kurt had called her a few minutes ago asking if she was getting out of bed this morning. She had been crying the moment Noah left- two weeks ago.

"Rachel, it's been two weeks. Why can't you guys just make up?"

"Because he hasn't called" she sniffled. "And I don't want him to think I'm weak."

"He won't" Kurt sighed. "He's probably just waiting for you to make the first move. Both of you got pretty upset so it stands to reason that he's feeling the exact same way." There was a slight pause before Kurt resumed. "Who is that in the background?"

"Adele. She's been keeping me company for a while. There's one song that I keep playing over and over and I think that it sums exactly how I feel."

"Maybe you sing it to him!" Kurt squealed. "There's an Adele song for everything!"

Rachel smiled to herself when her call waiting beeped. "Hold on, someone's calling me."

"Just call me back whenever. I'm with Blaine so there's no rush."

"Ok. I'll talk to you later." She hit the receive button. "Hello?"

"Hey."

"Noah" Rachel shuffled on her bed to straighten her hair, like he could see her over the phone. "W-what do you want?"

"I want to say something to you. Is it okay if I come over?"

"Uh yeah. My dads went to my grandpa's for the weekend so I'm alone." She winced to herself at the anxious suggestion.

"Cool. How's now for you?"

"Uh…" she checked herself in the mirror; she looked horrible. "Not a good time."

"Too bad. I'm here."

She heard a knocking sound downstairs and gasped sharply. No way. She shut her phone without thinking and slowly walked down the stairs. She saw his figure outside and stood for a moment, trying to make herself look presentable. "Come in."

Puck emerged in the doorway, looking as sexy as ever. "Hey babe."

"Babe? Does this mean we're still together? Because I call two weeks of not talking or any form of communication a break up."

"Come on Rachel. Don't be like that. I'm trying to apologize to you and you're acting like a brat."

Rachel crossed her arms in a huff. She could see the devilish smirk on his face and damn it if it didn't work its magic. "Fine. Say want you want."

"Well, I'd rather do it the way we're used to." He produced a guitar case from the porch. "What do you say?" He knew Rachel would never be able to resist. And he was right. She led them up to her room and sat primly on her bed. He walked over to her desk and pulled the chair out to sit on. He cleared his throat and looked at her. "I'm not very good with words but I just want to say that I meant what I said about you being the only one. Anyhow, I figured this song just about sums it all up."

He started strumming until he hit the right note.

_Ten miles from town and I just broke down  
>Spittin' out smoke on the side of the road<br>I'm out here alone just tryin' to get home  
>To tell you I was wrong but you already know<em>

_Believe me I won't stop at nothin'_  
><em>To see you so I've started runnin'<em>

_All that I'm after is a life full of laughter_  
><em>As long as I'm laughin' with you<em>  
><em>I'm thinkin' that all that still matters is love ever after<em>  
><em>After the life we've been through<em>  
><em>'Cause I know there's no life after you<em>

_Last time we talked, the night that I walked_  
><em>Burns like an iron in the back of my mind<em>  
><em>I must've been high to say you and I<em>  
><em>Weren't meant to be and just wastin' my time<em>

_Oh, why did I ever doubt you?_  
><em>You know I would die here without you<em>

_All that I'm after is a life full of laughter_  
><em>As long as I'm laughin' with you<em>  
><em>I'm thinkin' that all that still matters is love ever after<em>  
><em>After the life we've been through<em>  
><em>'Cause I know there's no life after you<em>

_You and I, right or wrong, there's no other one_  
><em>After this time I spent alone<em>  
><em>It's hard to believe that a man with sight could be so blind<em>  
><em>Thinkin' 'bout the better times, must've been outta my mind<em>  
><em>So I'm runnin' back to tell you<em>

_All that I'm after is a life full of laughter_  
><em>Without you God knows what I'd do, yeah<em>

_All that I'm after is a life full of laughter_  
><em>As long as I'm laughin' with you<em>  
><em>I'm thinkin' 'bout all that still matters is love ever after<em>  
><em>After the life we've been through, yeah<em>  
><em>Know there's no life after you<em>

_Know there's no life after you_  
><em>Know there's no life after you<em>  
><em>Know there's no life after you<em>  
><em>Know there's no life after you<em>  
><em>Know there's no life after you<em>  
><em>Know there's no life after you<em>  
><em>Know there's no life after you, yeah<em>

After he hit the last string, Rachel blinked back her tears. "Why?"

"Rachel," Puck said softly. "No one deserves to be happy more than you. You're the best person I know. And even though we're only seventeen, I think we've been through a hell of a lot more than most people have in their lifetime. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love you. And not just because you're beautiful and talented and drive me up the fucking wall but because I could really see you and I beating the odds: being together when no one thinks we should, getting the hell out of this town, going to college and making something of ourselves. You know why I want to do those things?" Rachel shook her head, encouraging him to continue. He struggled to say what he wanted because there were so many things that Rachel embodied he couldn't find the right ones. "Do you remember our date at the aquarium?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember when I got in the fight with the worker?" He took Rachel's eye roll as a good sign that she remembered. "I was looking for the Angler fish. You know what that is?"

"It's the ugliest fish in the sea?"

"Yeah, I mean No. Well, that too, but I read that when two anglers find their mate, they fuse their skin together, becoming one. Of course, the male dies after the female gets pregnant but that's not the point."

Rachel's brows furrowed together, "Then what is?"

"My point is that you're my angler."

Rachel smirked. "You're saying I'm ugly and you want to die?" She was teasing him, but she realized that he was being completely serious- a rare thing with Noah. She gave him a glance over to assess his body behavior. "What makes you think I'm your soulmate?"

Puck smiled brightly. He was hoping she'd ask that. "Do you remember the penguins?"

"Of course. Do you?"

"Well, no" he admitted. "I was too busy watching you. But while you were watching them, I read that penguins recognize their soulmate by their voice." He saw her face soften. He moved quietly over to where she was sitting and settled in front of her. He grabbed her hands and looked deep into her eyes. "Rachel, I love you. Pure and simple. There's nothing else I can give you except that and a shitty promise of us fighting, yelling, and probably a whole bunch of other shit that's gonna suck balls."

Rachel wiped a tear away and pondered what he had said. She locked eyes with Puck and brought him in for a kiss. "Well how can I resist an offer like that?" Her smile echoed his as she kissed him again. They didn't need to say anything else.

Puck grabbed Rachel by the waist and set her back on the bed. He settled on top of her and kissed her slow and leisurely. He had missed her lips. As they were scooting backwards, Rachel's hand accidently hit her nightstand, jolting her iPod stand on. It began to play its shuffle and landed on one of Rachel's favorite songs.

As the music started, she reached her hand up and underneath Puck's shirt to get it off him. He copied her movement and smiled down on her just as the words to the song started, giving the room a surreal and romantic feel.

Puck could feel Rachel's heart beating faster than a hummingbird's. He leaned down and kissed her lips as he gently guided himself into her. He waited for her to grow accustomed to him and when she gave him the sign to continue, he slowly began to push deeper.

_Chimney falls and lovers blaze  
>Thought that I was young<br>Now I've freezing hands and bloodless veins  
>As numb as I've become<br>I'm so tired  
>I wish I was the moon tonight<em>

As Noah began to steadily rock inside her, Rachel dug her fingers into his shoulders. The pain was intense, but pleasurable at the same time so she used her body to beg him for more.

_Last night I dreamt I had forgotten my name  
>'Cause I had sold my soul but awoke just the same<br>I'm so lonely  
>I wish I was the moon tonight<em>

_God blessed me, I'm a free man_  
><em>With no place free to go<em>  
><em>I'm paralyzed and collared-tight<em>  
><em>No pills for what I fear<em>

The two lovers locked eyes as they moved in rhythm, feeling the buildup together.

_This is crazy_  
><em>I wish I was the moon tonight<em>

_Chimney falls and lovers blaze_  
><em>Thought that I was young<em>  
><em>Now I've freezing hands &amp; bloodless veins<em>  
><em>As numb as I've become<em>

_I'm so tired,_  
><em>I wish I was the moon tonight<em>

Rachel's lungs closed as she felt an explosion-deeper and stronger than before- erupt throughout her body; Noah, seeing her face along with the feeling the vice grip of her walls, followed closely behind her with his own release.

_How will you know if you found me at last  
>'Cause I'll be the one, be the one, be the one<br>With my heart in my lap  
>I'm so tired, I'm so tired<br>I wish I was the moon tonight_

_I'm so tired, I'm so tired,_  
><em>And I wish I was the moon<em>  
><em>I'm so tired, I'm so tired,<em>  
><em>And I wish I was the moon tonight<em>

Noah's breath was just as short as Rachel's as he laid gently on her. He kissed the tear rolling down her cheek as he whispered, "I love you Rachel."

"I love you too Noah" Rachel breathed. She kissed his forehead as he rested it against her chest.

For Puck, it may not have fulfilled Rachel's dream fantasy, but he had come to learned that just because things don't always go as planned, doesn't mean they can't still be great. He stared at Rachel's body stretched underneath him and he swore that one day he'd give her that fantasy. And any others that she wanted.

"This is our song" Rachel commented as she ran her fingers through his mohawk.

"What?" He didn't even know who sang it or what it was called.

"Every couple has a song. This should be ours."

"I thought you would've picked a musical."

"Somehow I think this is more fitting. It's strange and not exactly made for something like this, but perhaps that's what makes it exactly perfect for us."

"Can I hear it again? I wasn't paying much attention to it the first time" he smiled up at her. She smiled brightly as she pressed repeat. As the song drifted around the room, it cast calm over the pair. Rachel was right: this was the perfect song for them precisely because it didn't fit. It was haunting and beautiful though- just like the moment they had shared. "You're right," he said as he shifted so that he was beside her and pulled her into him; he wrapped his arms around her and settled his face in her neck, "That is definitely our song."

The song continued to fill the room as the couple drifted into sleep with each other.

**A/N: There will be more Shelby. I promise. I learned this past month that no matter how old a girl gets, she'll always need her mother.** **And Rachel will realize that soon.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** Hey guys! I am so sorry about the lack of update, but I just finished writing my book so it took a lot out of me lol. Frankly, I've been shocked to see how many story alerts this is still getting. But I'm really happy about it too so yay! This is the last chapter for this story. I decided to jump ahead to their senior year (the first day only) and even though some things don't necessarily follow the timeline of the show, I decided that since this fanfiction, I can do whatever I want lol. For the most part, I tried hard to stick with what's going in the show and I am making a sequel specifically for their senior year so be on the lookout for it:) That story will answer everything about New York.

Edit: So I did some rewriting on this chapter to make it more realistic (I totally agree that it was really out of character in some places) so hopefully, this is better:)

On to the story!

Chapter 16

The sun shined through the curtains as Rachel woke up in a haze an hour before school. It had been an amazing summer, even if she didn't get a lot of time with Noah. His pool cleaning business had suddenly taken off thanks to a surge of cougars that were lonely. She, on the other hand, had spent her summer looking at colleges just in case there was a complication with her first choice and training her voice for…well, everything. Her dads still had no idea what happened between her and Noah, but they did notice that something was off.

Rachel turned up her music and belted out along with Marina and the Diamonds. She couldn't wait to be back in glee and seeing Puck on a daily basis. It was strange that after that night, they had barely gotten to see each other. On the other hand, they were both extremely busy. She had been gone half the summer to her aunt's house to help out her dads and they'd only gotten back a few nights ago. Though they talked a lot on the phone, it just wasn't the same to either Puck or her. She made a mental note to set aside some quality time with him when they got back into the swing of things.

XOXOXO

"Hey Rach," Kurt said cheerfully.

"Hey Kurt," she replied. "I love your jacket!" She pressed her fingers to the soft material in awe.

"Thanks!" He beamed. "I got it on sale. Where's Puckerman?"

She had been thinking the same thing. "Knowing him, he's probably making sure his teachers count him present before he skips out." Despite the progress that Rachel had been making with him, Puck was still a rebel at heart. But at least he bothered to show up now.

Kurt hooked his arm through hers as they stopped just short of the doors. "What's wrong?"

"The moment we step through those doors, it marks the beginning of the end of our high school life. Think about that for a moment. Two years ago at this time, we didn't talk to each other or even acknowledge that each other existed. Now look at us. Look at everything that's happened."

"Drama?" he stated. She gave him a look and he sighed heavily. "I know what you mean. I never thought that finding someone like Blaine would happen. I mean, I'd always hoped, but never thought it would actually come true."

Rachel smiled sweetly at him as they began to walk up the stairs one last, first time. The doors opened and the two separated to go to their lockers. She was so busy thinking of her schedule and books that she hadn't heard her name being called.

"Yentl!" Santana hollered right into her left ear.

Rachel yelped as she eyed the Latina carefully. "What do you want Santana?"

"Jesus, I only called your name fifty million times. Listen, I need you to do me a favor."

"What could I possibly help you out with besides your pitch?"

"Quinn. Wait, what's wrong with my pitch?"

"Everything. What's the problem with Quinn?"

"You haven't seen her? She looks like Chucky's emo older sister strung out on acid."

"So what?" she shrugged.

Santana slammed the locker's metal door, just missing Rachel's face. "Look baby Jew, I'm only asking you because Brittany and I tried and failed. And as much as it pains me to say this, you have a way of making people feel all warm and gooey inside after you talk to them. It's kind of disturbing actually."

"Your point?" she sighed impatiently.

"Maybe Quinn will listen to you."

Rachel gave a loud huff before answering. "Okay. I'll do it later. Where is she?"

"I saw her under the bleachers with the Skanks." Rachel nodded and started to turn so Santana grabbed her arm. "Rachel, you have to hurry. She got a tattoo."

Rachel wrestled her arm from the tall brunette's grasp. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's of Ryan Seacrest," she declared.

Rachel gasped in horror and then tried to hide the shudder. "I'll do it right after I meet up with Kurt." The two girls nodded their approval and left before anyone could see them talking to each other.

XOXOXO

Rachel left the bleachers completely depressed. She saw a purple piano lingering just out of the way by the cafeteria, but she had never felt less like singing. She could see that some of what she said had resonated with Quinn, but Rachel knew that the only person who might be able to convince to do anything was Puck. Those two had such a strange connection that she just could not understand for the life of her. It wasn't just Beth either. Whatever it was, it went back before Quinn got pregnant. Though she would never admit it, their bond intimidated her and many times she thought that perhaps Puck was spending his time with the blonde during the summer rather than her.

She looked back at the pink haired, tattooed girl and smirked. "No way."

"What way?" a voice asked.

"Oh, hi Finn." Well, this was awkward. "Nothing, I just was thinking of something my dad said."

"Oh," he grinned. "You busy?"

"A little. Why?"

"At lunch, I think we should sing something. You know, get everyone in the spirit of the assignment."

"Uh yeah," she smiled. "I think so too. You have a song in mind?"

"Yeah, I heard my mom singing it this morning. It's called We Got the Beat."

"Oh! I know that! I heard it on Fast Times."

"Fast Times?"

"Never mind," she snickered. "It's old. I think that'd be perfect. Um, you wanna get Santana and Brittany and I'll get everyone else?"

"Sounds good. See ya later."

XOXOXO

Puck watched his girlfriend talking to Mr. Schue about something concerning the assignment and how spaghetti stains are difficult to get out of white. A smirk crossed his lips as his eyes grazed over deep tanned legs (clearly someone had been sunbathing this summer). At first it was strange not to have Rachel in his bed or be in hers after everything that happened in New York, but his mom had really started to buckle down on him concerning responsibilities and his influence over his sister. Apparently, he didn't make for a good role model. The toughest part was turning down the cougars who had ogled him while he cleaned their pools and hot tubs. The thought crossed his mind a few times that what Rachel didn't know, wouldn't hurt her. Only...it would. But worse than that, it would kill him to know that he had fucked up the best thing to ever happen to him in his life.

"Are you okay?"

Puck looked up to see Rachel standing in front of him in that god awful white dress that did nothing to show off her figure. She did look adorable though with a spot of spaghetti sauce on her cheek. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. You?"

Rachel rocked on her heels as she nodded. "I'm well thank you. Have you seen Quinn?"

"Yeah, I saw her." His voice sounded sad even to his own ears. "You talk to her yet?"

"A little. I told her we were a family and we've been through too much for her to quit now."

"Why would you do that?" he asked in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"What is it with you and meddling with other people's lives?"

Rachel was caught completely off guard. "W-W-I just think she's better than that."

"If she wants to get cancer, run around with a gay man's face on her back, and look like a real life colored version of My Little Pony, let her."

"How can you say that? Quinn is one of us."

Puck let out a scoff and raised himself up to his full height before bringing his face close to hers. "You really believe that? Quinn has never been a part of any team but her own."

Okay, Rachel had to give him that. "That doesn't mean she isn't hurting or needs friends."

"She has friends."

"Please don't tell me you mean those skanks or whatever they call themselves."

"No. I meant us. She just needs time to see it but the more you push her, the more she'll resist. Haven't you learned that by now?"

"So what do you suggest?"

"Let her come to us." Mr. Schue's voice cut into their conversation about…something. He didn't really care to listen. And that's when he heard it: the shrillest voice ever. "Who the fuck is that?" he asked sharply to Rachel.

The brunette held up her hand to stop him from talking as Sugar Malta started in on a song. Fortunately, Schue stopped her before they all died and Rachel had fixed the problem without insulting Sugar.

The group had started in on their witty remarks when Puck quickly pulled a finger into his ear and started to shake it.

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked loudly.

"I think my ear is bleeding," he quipped.

Rachel let her eyes roll dramatically before turning to her classmates. "Okay, so she wasn't that good."

"_That good?"_ Kurt repeated incredulously. "Rachel, she's making Puck's ears bleed."

"I think it's safe to say that she's a no," Mercedes stated.

"We can't exactly be picky here guys," Mr. Schue declared. "We need members."

Everyone gave a quick glance to Rachel since she was the unofficial spokesperson of the group. "Yes," she agreed. "We do need members, but we need them to be able to _sing_ and dance. She can't do either. She'll just end up bringing down our performances." Mr. Schue opened his mouth to say something but she held up her hand. "Mr. Schue, trust me. We'd be better off without her."

Mr. Schue could see he wasn't going to win and frankly, he agreed with his students.

XOXOXO

"That was so much fun!" Rachel said excitedly.

"I thought it might be good to start senior year out right," Kurt breathed.

Their rendition of Ding Dong! gave Rachel some much needed adrenaline. It was a surprise to come into the auditorium and see all the props. Since their time in New York, her need to perform was stronger than ever and she just knew Kurt would be right there beside her. "Hey, you wanna come with me tonight to auditions for NYADA?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course I will! What song are we going to do?"

Rachel opened her locker and pulled her notebook from her backpack. "I've taken the liberty of arranging songs that have showcased our vocals more than any other song. I'm going to do Don't Rain on My Parade and I think you should do Blackbird."

"How do you know I sang Blackbird?"

"Blaine told me. Now, we'll take my car and I'll pick you up at seven. Sound good?"

Kurt gave an enthusiastic nod and the two headed to the courtyard. "Oh wait! I forgot something."

"Do you want to me to wait?"

"No don't be silly. Save me a seat though."

"Will do," she called out.

XOXOXO

"What is wrong with you?" Rachel hissed at Finn.

After Blaine had finished his informal audition and the fire on the piano had been extinguished, the group took refuge in the choir room where Finn proceeded to make an ass of himself by dampening the moment with his petty insecurities.

"What? I just want to make everything clear," Frankenteen defended.

"Make what clear exactly?" Puck interrupted. "I mean besides the fact that you're nervous that Blaine here is the complete package."

"What are you talking about?"

"Unlike a certain performer, Blaine can both sing and _dance_ without breaking Rachel's nose."

"That was an accident."

"Enough guys!" Mr. Schue raised his hands in that almighty gesture to show he was ready to move on. "Finn, Puckerman's sort of right. Blaine is a great –and much needed –addition to this group. Leads will be given to whoever earns them and who is right for the song."

Finn sat down in a mini huff before Rachel stood to announce that her suggestion for the school musical should West Side Story. Of course, there was tension between the girls when Rachel flat out said that she should play Maria (which Puck thought was justified because Maria was fucking hot) but once again, a fued was dissolved hastily when it was decided that there would be open auditions.

XOXOXO

A knock on Rachel's window drowned out her sniffles. Through her wet eyes, she saw Puck leaning in the tree, obviously uncomfortable if his grimace was any indication. "Noah," she sniffled. "What are you doing here?"

Puck hopped into the room and shook off his wet jacket. "I heard about what happened at that audition place. You okay?"

Her lip quavered a few times before the flood of tears came back. "I'm so embarrassed!" She dug her head into his chest and cried. "The girl was so mean! She said she could hold any note longer than me!"

"That's complete bullshit babe," he said forcefully. "I'll kick her ass!"

A giggle escaped from her despite the hiccups that erupted from her tiny body. "No you won't."

"All right, but only because I want her to see how atrocious she is compared to you."

Rachel wiped her nose on his shirt before looking at him. "Atrocious?"

He gave a proud smile and shifted his feet. "Yeah. It was one of my sister's spelling words she had to learn tonight." He watched as Rachel's doe eyes didn't make any movement. "Did I say something wrong? I could've sworn that was a perfect word."

"No- I mean, yes it was good to use," she smiled. "Thank you."

He kissed the top of her forehead and gave her a tight hug. "Don't worry about that skank muffin. We'll kill her in Sectionals." Rachel's fears were dashed as she watched him go out the window again. "And you look fucking hot in those pajamas," he winked.

Rachel stifled a laugh as she took in her ducky shorts. "They do make my butt look good," she muttered. She was disappointed that he wasn't staying, but she was sure he had a good reason to go. Right?


End file.
